


Blind Ambition

by missmaryr (mbmatthews1)



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Gen, Very AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:32:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1261450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mbmatthews1/pseuds/missmaryr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>n a world where Megatron woke when discovered by Archibald Witwicky, a strangly blind Sam, a pet of Megatron as all Witwickys are, is endangered by the Fallen, and taken to the Prime with startling results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Megatron makes an interesting capture

**Author's Note:**

> This is so AU that only the characters will be familiar. The idea comes from SoulReaperRitsuka  
> I do not own Transformers except in some very wistful daydreams

 

Blind Ambition

Chapter One

Bumblebee huddled in the back of the cell. Other than the blue glow of the energy bars, the cell was dark. He could feel the energon trickling down his side from one minor wound. He could not feel his right leg at all. Knowing that the interrogation could start at any time, he tried to keep his courage up as he heard heavy metal steps approach.

"You little fleshbag, you know better than to question your master!" the approaching Decepticon roared. "For that little stunt, you can spend some time in the brig!" A part of the blue glowing bars disappeared, and something was thrown roughly into the cell. The bars returned. Bumblebee caught sight of Counterpunch as he stomped away. "Don't worry, Autobot, the Master will tend to you when he has time. Right now he's a little busy."

For a time the only sounds in the brig consisted of soft wet sounds from the organic. When nothing else happened, the yellow scout crooned cautiously. The sound seemed to startle the organic, who stopped making the sounds and lifted his head from the floor. After regarding his cellmate intently, the organic pushed up from the floor and approached, dragging some kind of storage device with him and wiping at his face. He was careful to face away from the bars. When he reached the scout, he patted the armor on the hurt leg, as though he was searching. At one point he stopped and rummaged in the bag, searching for something, though he did not look in. Finally he pulled out something and pulled them over his servos-hands, Bumblebee reminded himself- at which time he began his exploration again. Considering that the sensors on his leg were not working, the scout did not know what the human could possibly be doing until he finished and moved briskly back.

Bumblebee's leg twitched, and then statically sensation, comparable to the pins and needles feeling humans got, flooded his leg and it twitched a few times. Bumblebee moved his leg experimentally. The repair was not perfect, but adequate. The organic watched intently, before moving around to the other side. He whispered something. Bumblebee consulted his human language uploads to translate, as the organic waited. "You need to be very still while I repair this," the organic repeated after a time. "The gloves protect my hands but if you move some of it might splash on me and burn my skin. Nod if you understand me." Bumblebee nodded and was still as the boy applied a rough patch to the injury, stopping the leak.

As he worked, Bumblebee observed the organic and compared what he saw to his memory files. This was certainly a human, the dominant life form on this planet. With a little more research, he concluded that this was a male, and based on his size, a youngling. Where had a youngling human learned to do Cybertronian repairs? And how was he doing it in the dark? The files said humans relied strongly on their sense of sight, and there was almost no light in this cell.

"Finished," the human youngling said, and sniffed. He took off one glove, and with some careful maneuvering, involving putting his hand under his covered foot, got the other off as well. Then he pulled a container out of the storage device and drank from it while studying Bumblebee. Bumblebee looked back. The youngling was slim, with dark hair and pale skin. He was wearing armor-no, clothing, Bumblebee reminded himself- that covered most of his body closely. His eyes- Bumblebee shuttered his optics and looked again. He was not mistaken.

"I'm- I'm a little cold," the youngling confessed. "Do you mind if I stay close? You're warm." Bumblebee responded by reaching out, slowly. The youngling stood still as Bumblebee picked him up and placed him on his uninjured leg. "My backpack, too?" Bumblebee brought the storage device up. The youngling maneuvered until he was comfortable. Pulling a large length of cloth out, he wrapped it around himself and settled. He sighed and settled on Bumblebee's chassis. The scout crooned and cupped his servos around the younglings. "That's warm. Thank you. My name is Sam Witwicky. My great-grandpa found my master, Lord Megatron, a long time ago."

Trtr

Cold. That was all that Megatron was aware of, when he started to be aware of anything at all. Slowly, as his awareness grew, he realized he was surrounded by voices, but not in the tones of Cybertronians. These were different, and after a moment he realized the voices were organic. That activated his memory files. He'd traced the Cube here to this small planet with a weak sun on the very edge of this galaxy. But when he came in, his trajectory was altered. The trip through the atmosphere heated him, and instead of plowing across the surface, he melted into the ice. In the deep freeze of winter, the ice froze around him immediately, and he went into stasis.

Reviewing his files, he noted that his navigation system marked something. Listening to the irritating voices of the organics, he discovered that the leader of some kind of expedition found him, and his 'glasses' were marked with the location of the Cube. He further discovered that the humans were highly excited about the discovery of 'the ice man'. Foolish organics, thinking they could hold him! He began to power up his systems. He felt liquid rolling off of him, and for the first time opened his optics. they fled at the sight of his red optics. The ones that remained fired on him. "Fools," he growled, and killed several. Taking his tetrajet form, he departed to find the Cube. He searched, and searched, and searched, with no success. He did everything he could think of. Then he settled in a remote area and called on his Decepticons.

They came, and with them came the news that the Cube was still lost. With them, he found the glasses. With them, he found Archibald Witwicky, and the glyphs he was drawing on the walls of the place he was confined due to being glitched to the Pit and back. The glasses yielded only the same navigational information Megatron already had, and he destroyed them in a fit of rage, but he brought Witwicky back with him.

He sent Starscream to the Fallen with the glyphs. The message in the glyphs was cryptic: "When dawn alights the dagger's tip, three kings will reveal the doorway."The Matrix of Leadership!" the Fallen exulted. "With that we can harvest the Sun of this planet and get enough energon to revive Cybertron! "Looking at Megatron from his throne, he demanded, "Put all your resources into finding the Matrix! "

"Until we find the Cube the sun must remain intact," Megatron pointed out. "And we need a work force to rebuild Cybertron to its full glory. Besides, what better revenge is there besides taking over their planet? If we conquer Earth, we can use their energy resources to create energon. Look at all the potential power they have, without the technology to use it! They cannot stand against us, Master. "

"And the Autobots are going to stand aside and watch?" the Fallen asked sourly, but eventually he agreed. Until the last Prime died, he dared not leave his refuge. "You told me you found that old Seeker Jetfire. Assign him to research the matter once he's gotten enough energon to think straight."

Leaving, Megatron gloated. "Old fool, only caring about his glitched revenge," he processed. "Wait until I have the Cube and the Matrix. I can find a way to activate my ally. "His ally lay in stasis on the Moon, safely hidden from his master. The ally would build the space bridge and destroy the Fallen. In turn, Megatron would destroy the ally, leaving leadership open to the strongest. Let Optimus and his soft-sparked Autobots try to stop him. These organics would work just fine as a means to rebuild Cybertron once the Cube resurfaced.

Human generations later, Megatron regarded the side of a mountain dubiously. In front of him Soundwave's drones waited, while their master stood behind him. "So the last of the Witwicky line lives in there?"

"Correct," Soundwave droned. "Assessment: extensive caverns underneath mountain. Water, constant temperature, hidden from all scans with exception of strongest, openings covered by vegetation in all seasons except winter. Food sources available in surround area. Logical to assume that a human familiar with Cybertronians would see such advantages. "

Megatron considered that information. "How many openings?" he asked. Thus far, none of the Witwicky descendants showed Archibald's connection to the All-Spark, but he liked having a human pet. He liked having a human who could polish and clean areas on his armor that were hard to reach, that he could use to gather information from other humans when needed, and as a companion. "I want the Witwicky alive. He's shown enough intelligence and initiative to be both useful and entertaining."

This Witwicky intrigued him. Ronald disappeared almost two decades ago, in a transportation accident involving a fierce fire. There were no bodies, but there was little left of the vehicle either. As Megatron's current Witwicky pet was satisfactory and young enough to breed, Megatron did not care overmuch. About two months ago, Megatron's pet Witwicky died unexpectedly, before the Decepticon leader arranged for breeding.

"Gas drones to deploy is irritant, will drive humans out but do no lasting harm. Separate other humans, send to various mines heavily supervised. Need intelligent humans for operations." Some of the work was dangerous and intelligent humans lasted longer in the assignments. Humans clever and resourceful enough to evade his kind for so long were too useful to kill out of hand.

The Decepticon leader received a report from Ravage and Laserbeak, who traced a group of humans who escaped Decepticon authority for a surprising length of time, about a decade and a half. Humans attempted such escapes frequently but few lasted longer than a year or so. Most tried to leave Decepticon territory, a fatal mistake. This time, however, this group remained within the former United States. Before the Decepticon takeover, humans mined a mineral resource called coal here, but the updated methods the Decepticons used concentrated the human population where the mineral existed. The combination of the mountainous area with the intense vegetation created an area unpopular with the Decepticons, and therefore largely ignored. This group exploited that blind spot. A normal patrol spotted smoke, and investigated but only found the fairly fresh remnants of a fire. When they mentioned it on their report, Soundwave sent Laserbeak and Ravage to investigate.

Soundwave sent this report to him when the drones reported that not only had the group evaded notice for some time, but a Witwicky lived with them. As a result, Megatron deigned to supervise the capture himself. "Cover all exits and begin," he ordered. Ravage and Frenzy headed inside to drop the gas containers. Several bored Decepticons covered the exits and waited. The communication expert reported when the gas was activated, and soon after they saw the results.

Humans came out, coughing and leaking water from their eyes, but only about half appeared, and the Witwicky was not with them. Ravage and Frenzy roamed and did not find any humans in the main living quarters of the cavern. "You, you and you, get these processed. The rest of you, spread out and search. " The chosen Decepticons began herding the still-distressed humans to transports brought for the purpose.

"Master, I have word from Frenzy," Soundwave reported. "It seems that the humans have another exit seldom used. He is following the humans now. Shall I supervise the capture?"

"Go ahead. Take who you need." Soundwave left, as Megatron walked around the area. Should I simply destroy this cavern, he mused to himself. It seems that to hide humans from us for so long, it could be a liability. On the other hand, I could have the patrols add it to their routine checks. That way, any enterprising humans intelligent enough to escape and hide can be used as these will be. He debated the matter with himself as he strolled, enjoying a moment of unusual quiet. While he still engaged in skirmishes with the Autobots, currently the factions engaged in wary skirmishes rather than outright battles, most of them in space. Megatron's spies thus far had not penetrated their command ship to discover what Prime's goal entailed. Did the Autobots know that the Cube existed somewhere on this organic world, or not?

Battle-hardened veteran that he was, the soft sound brought him to full alert. The sound repeated, and this time he identified it as a human voice, but so muffled that even with his Cybertronian hearing, he could not make out words. He began searching for an opening even as he summoned help. Before any could arrive, he heard a shriek, "Master, Daddy! Behind us!" This time he pinpointed the sound, and shortly afterward a small human emerged from an opening concealed by vegetation, so panicked that he did not see Megatron and slammed into his foot. Moving quickly, the Decepticon leader scooped up the sparkling human, encasing the tiny howling creature in his servos and waiting. He was not disappointed.

The adult human he hoped for appeared from the opening. "Sam? Sam?" The dark-haired male stopped when he saw Megatron.

"Looking for something, Ronald Witwicky?" Megatron purred, as wails came from his hand. "Let me see." He opened his hands and looked in. The sparkling had his hands over his eyes, so that Decepticon leader saw only the dark hair of his head and the poorly-fitting, dirty bodysuit the little one was wearing.

"The light hurts," the sparkling whimpered.

Megatron looked at Ronald, whose gaze flickered from Megatron's hand to his face. Considering the despairing look on the father's face, the Decepticon leader's curiosity stirred and he adjusted his hands so Sam's face was shadowed. "Look at me, little one," Megatron said. "I won't hurt you. Look at me. " The sparkling removed his hands and brought his head up. He did not look directly at Megatron, instead staring straight ahead. Megatron lifted his hands to study the scrap of humanity in his hand. Now he understood the look on Ronald Witwicky's face. The sparkling did not see him, and Ronald expected Megatron to destroy the flawed sparkling. As he would have, save for what he saw in the little one's eyes, clear to any Cybertronian.

"Come here, Ronald Witwicky," Megatron commanded. The human walked over, and climbed into the hands his master held for him. The sparkling attached himself to his parent as soon as the father spoke. The two settled themselves in his hands as Megatron looked at the opening again. Two other human came out, herded by Ravage, as Megatron contacted Soundwave. As the other humans entered the transport to be processed, Megatron contacted his base to restock the human quarters in his apartments.

Soundwave took the Witwickys as Megatron transformed and placed them in his jet form. When they were in the air, he said, "We will discuss matters now, Ronald." He did not tell the frightened father that he had no intention of destroying the flawed sparkling who had Cybertronian glyphs in his eyes.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam had visitors while Bumblebee wonders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers; I was in the bathroom when they gave out the idea and Hasbro got there first.

Blind Ambition Chapter two

In the brig, Bumblebee crooned to the being covered by his servos. "My eyes are funny," the youngling human said. "I can't see in the light. I can only see when there's a little light, like here, but I can do repairs to little parts, like your sensors, because I see where the energon goes." Bumblebee hummed in response. "You're an Autobot? Is your leader a Prime? " the youngling asked. Bumblebee nodded. "Sometimes I see pictures in my head. They look like this. "

He drew something out of his backpack. Bumblebee felt something odd, and looked to see the boy drawing with a pen. The drawings glowed in the faint light, and Bumblebee noted that, like the boy's eyes, the drawings were glyphs. He could not read them, but he recognized them. They looked like the markings on the Cube. He warbled softly in surprise. When the writings began to fade, he quickly recorded them. "Jetfire can read them, and he said a Prime could," the youngling said, putting away the pen. "When I was little, with my father, everyone called them doodles. But my master says it means I'm special. Otherwise he would've killed me because I'm flawed. "

Bumblebee hissed. Humans were sentient, and Megatron treated them like domestic animals. Though when he took time to consider the matter, the scout was surprised they got that much consideration from the Decepticon leader. Then Sam enlightened him on the reason.

"When my master finds the Matrix and the Cube, he wants to take people to Cybertron and rebuild. I asked him how, and he said he would tell me later, when I learned enough from my tutors to understand." He sighed. "Nobody who can't work stays alive, except the babies. When Master found out how my funny eyes worked and that I could see energon, Glit figured out how to protect my hands, and I do the small repairs like your sensor if I'm not with Master. But I'm with him a lot, and when I'm not with him, somebody looks in on me."

Within a few hours Bumblebee saw proof of that statement. Visitors arrived every few hours, each with something for the youngling human.

Thundercracker opened the bars and stood glowering at Bumblebee. Starscream stepped from behind him and said, "Boy, come help me." He pulled something from subspace and set it in the back of the cell as Sam climbed down from Bumblebee's chassis. Sam pulled the backpack and kicked the gloves over to the Seeker, asking him to knock the dried energon off. After the tetrajet complied and Sam drew the gloves on, Bumblebee crowded to the back of the cell, getting as far back from the Seeker as he could. "Whatever you said to the Master, don't do it again," Starscream complained, as Sam dug out his kit and began work. "He's been twice as fragged off as usual, and without you there he's knocking everyone around. "

Bumblebee whistled a question. Starscream kicked out, and Sam stopped working, backing up several steps. "Pits, brat, you have to get over this glitch you have over seeing a brawl," the tetrajet grumbled. "You'd think in eight years you'd be used to it."

"I break easier than you guys and I take longer to repair, "Sam reminded him as he came back to work over the scratches. "I can stop the leak but I can't repair this here."

"Hook and Glit are up to their shoulders in repairs from an explosion in one of the security stations. I told Megatron that something's going on, but he just slashed at me and stormed off." His optics went to Bumblebee, who glared back.

"I'd question you here and now," Thundercracker snarled at Bumblebee, "but the Master wants to do it himself. If you think your Autobot friends are coming for you, think again. This cell is better guarded than the Temple of the Cube on Cybertron used to be." To Sam he added, "With all the time you've spent on the Master's desk, you should know better than to snark off at him."

Sam ignored the comment, busy with the minor repair. "The leak's sealed, but you'll have to get to the medbay to get the scratches filled in. I don't have the material. If anyone else comes, they need to bring me some supplies." Once again he took off the gloves, very carefully. "Thank you from bringing me the void pail."

"Keep your squishy mouth shut next time." Starscream grumbled, and exited the cell. The bars went back up. Bumblebee wondered what Sam needed the 'void pail' for, until the door closed behind the Seekers and Sam demonstrated. Bumblebee looked from Sam to the door. What did the Seeker mean when he talked about Megatron knocking everyone around without Sam there?

Two hours later the sound of chatter and wheels took Sam off Bumblebee again. The youngling got as close to the bars as he could, looking toward the door, which opened to reveal a blue-haired, goggle-eyed drone and rolling cart. The bars opened enough to let them in. Sam pounced on the cart, grabbing a container. Opened, the container revealed something that had an odd smell. "Liver?" Sam complained, but he picked up a utensil and started eating ravenously.

"Glit's order. He said if you can't get outside to the sun, you need the nutrients somehow unless you want twisted bones. " Sam rolled his eyes. " He's up to his audios in repairs or he'd be in here blistering your ears for snarking off at the Master when he needs you in the medbay," the blue-haired drone told him, as he unloaded more items from the cart.

Relieved of its burden, the cart transformed and another small drone, without the blue hair, glowered at Sam as the boy continued to devour the contents of the container. "Between the explosion and whatever you said to him, the Master's so fragged off nobody wants to get near him," Wheelie informed the boy. "When he lets you out, you better polish him up good and get him in a better mood." He opened a container and handed it to Sam. The youngling drank from it. "And if you thought you were getting out of your lessons, think again. Brains brought them with him." They let him finish eating before the lessons began.

"Good," Brains approved, when they finished. "We brought enough to eat to get you through tonight. Don't grow out of your clothes until then." Sam waited until they rolled out and stuck his tongue out at the closing door.

"Liver, milk, and spinach," Sam grumbled. "Glit's got a thing about my getting enough sunlight so I grow right, and if I can't get to the sun, he makes me eat that stuff. At my age! How much more does he think I'm going to grow? I don't mind the milk, and the spinach is okay, but liver tastes bad." He bent his knees, crossed his arm on them, and put his chin on his arms. "Do you know what I said to the Master? I said war was a terrible waste of lives and resources. Your world is all torn up, and all of you still fight. I mean, you'd have Cybertron rebuilt and everything a long time ago if you'd just quit fighting!"

If only it was that simple, Bumblebee thought. But he could see why Megatron put Sam in here now. He was amazed that the youngling was still alive. He made a grinding sound. "Yeah, I know, it was stupid," Sam admitted, "but I've listened to his stories since he found me and Dad, and it's all battle, battle, battle. They talk about how many people died and how torn up Cybertron is, and how they need the Cube and the Matrix to fix it. It just sounds so much like the Great War the old old people talked about when I was little."

Bumblebee vented air. How in Primus's name did that naïve attitude come from a human child raised by Megatron in the midst of the Decepticons?

Shortly afterward a small blue Cassetticon came in with another meal. While Sam made it disappear, Glit examined the repairs his apprentice did on Bumblebee, and approved. "Here are more supplies," he said, drawing them from subspace. "I needed you in the medbay today, and the Master refused to allow you out even to help me. " He fixed a stern eye on Sam, who wilted under it. "I trust you learned from your mistake, youngling. " Sam nodded, hanging his head, and the medic patted his shoulder. "Our master knows best. Don't ever doubt that."

When Glit left, Sam went back to Bumblebee, but sat beside him instead of climbing on. "He's nice," Sam confided, "not like Hook. Hook is really smart, but he's real picky." He sighed. "This punishment isn't so bad," he added. "Usually when I'm punished, the Master puts me in my rooms with bright light without my glasses, so I can't see at all. And I still have to eat liver and spinach. "

That put Bumblebee on alert. Was this youngling being punished, or tested? Megatron had to know that being confined in a dim room with a kind Cybertronian was not as much of a punishment as the one Sam described. Or was this some kind of trick?

TRTR

Megatron settled Ronald and Sam into Ben's quarters. His former pet liked his comfort, and the level of luxury overwhelmed the sparkling who talked constantly about how much he liked this or that new experience. Megatron let Ronald believe that Sam was hostage to his good behavior. The elder Witwicky took up his duties as the pet Witwicky without fuss. Indeed, he proved to be much better than Ben in his information gathering. Megatron enjoyed having four hands doing the polishing instead of two. But the sparkling became Megatron's favorite quickly. He entertained Megatron with his chatter, and he listened to the Decepticon leader's stories with real interest. Flawed as he was, he would never be a threat, and Megatron placed him on the desk for company frequently.

Scalpel investigated his eyes within a week of their arrival. "The glyphs are distortions in the lens of the eyes," he reported. "The sparkling can see energy, and heat. Normal light blinds him." He dimmed the lights and said, "Come to me." Sam walked over to him and waited, looking from Megatron to the tiny Decepticon. "Now go to the Master." Sam turned and walked over to Megatron, but slowly, as the light became brighter and brighter. He stopped when he could no longer see. "Keep going!" Scalpel hissed, coming up behind him. Startled, Sam stumbled away and shrieked as he went off the table-

-only to be caught by two huge metal hands. "This is a Witwicky sparkling," Megatron stated, as Sam whimpered softly and curled up in his hand.

"But the older one can still breed. Why not play with this one? He's flawed, useless."

The hand not holding the sparkling slammed on the table. "Do you propose to tell me what I can do with my Witwickys?" Megatron asked mildly, staring at his medic. "I seem to recall discussing this matter with you before, with the first one." The other hand was against his chest, cradling the quiet and listening child. Scalpel stuttered out a cringing negative. "Good. Examine him. I will watch. And dim the lights."Not long after, Megatron headed back to his quarters, cradling Sam against his chest again. On the way, he said, "I am your only master, Sam. You are a Witwicky. If I give you an order, you do not obey anyone but me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master. Thank you for catching me." Megatron found he liked the trust in that young voice. "Do I have to see him again?"

"No," said Megatron. Soundwave's cassette Glit will be better, he decided. He was almost as soft-sparked as an Autobot, but in a medic that was no bad thing. "I think you need better clothes than these," he decided, eying the poor-fitting jumpsuit.

Some time later Soundwave came to see his master, bringing Ravage with him. Soundwave reported the latest news on Autobot activity, and brought production reports on datapads. Neither of them noticed Ravage until there was a surprised yelp from the corner. Megatron and Soundwave looked over to see Ravage's tail sticking out of a shrouded corner behind Megatron's desk. "Ravage, curious. Youngling, curious. Leave alone," Soundwave advised, and the meeting went on. From the corner, there was an occasional, "Stop that," or giggle. Meeting over, Soundwave and Megatron looked over at the corner, and a moment later Ravage came out, Sam riding his back.

Ravage paced over to his mentor's side. The scrawny scrap of dirty humanity the Communications Officer remembered was gone, replaced with a clean human sparkling with in a deep green outfit, short hair, a tinted eye covering, and a smile as he hung on to one of the metal panther's back plates. "Appearance, improved," Soundwave commented, as Ravage came up to him. With permission, he lifted Sam from his cassette's back. "Sparkling, remove eye covering." Obediently, Sam lifted the glasses with dark lenses from his eyes and looked up. Soundwave examined the eyes that looked blankly at him, noting the glyphs, and very gently pushed the glasses back down before placing him on the desk. Megatron guided Sam towards him with a hand, looking over his pet with pride. "Eyes, remarkable, but relevance unknown."

"Ah. " He placed a datapad on the desk. "These are his 'doodles.' Give me your opinion." He turned to Sam as Soundwave reviewed the datapad. "Have you finished your homework?"

"Yes, Master, and Daddy finished his reports. " Ronald Witwicky appeared with a datapad that had a human's keyboard on it as well. Megatron brought him to the desk and reviewed the datapad briefly as Sam took his sire's hand and Ronald ruffled his hair. "May we please go outside now?"

"Yes, Ravage will go with you." He placed Sam back on Ravage's back, and the three left. His pets went nowhere without a trusted escort. "Well?"

"Glyphs," Soundwave noted. "Unable to read, but resemble the marks on the Cube. Sire has not seen Cube." Partly for information and partly as punishment, Ronald underwent a deep scan with Soundwave. "Sparkling unaware of significance?"

"Completely. He says he sees them behind his eyes, but they don't hurt. His sire is teaching him now, but I want a Cybertronian tutor, and another as guardian. I want this little one to have as little human contact as possible besides his sire. We will investigate everywhere the little one lived, but I have no doubt he is All-Spark touched." His red optics gleamed. "If we find the Cube- " He did not need to finish the sentence. If they found the Cube, then Cybertron, and the means to restore it, would be in their grip. "Provide these to Jetfire with the rest of the information we have. We still need find a way to revive our ally. "Jetfire translated the glyphs to read, "Where the created lake stands, the passage is revealed to the eyes that can see." And so the search began.

Soon after, Megatron received Motormaster in his office. Sam was on the desk with Megatron. When Motormaster objected to his reprimand, the argument began, and progressed to blows, though no real damage. The fighting transport left, hissing in pain and rage. When Megatron calmed, he remembered his pet, and looked for Sam. The youngling was curled up in the corner of the desk, with his arms over his head. He was shaking with sobs. The Decepticon leader looked for the sire to get the boy, and remembered that Ronald was compiling lists of man-made lakes with Jetfire.

The Decepticon leader scooped Sam up and the youngling flinched away from him. Crooning, Megatron cradled him in his hands and stroked his back until he calmed down. "I didn't know what to do," Sam sniffed. "I couldn't run away or anything, Master." The Decepticon leader realized how easily he could have killed his tiny pet, and from then on limited his assaults to verbal ones when Sam was present.

When Sam was on the desk on in his corner, a minion dared to present bad news, with the opportunity to defend himself fully before the Master would take violent action. If nothing else, the minion got the chance to brace himself as the Master sent his pet out of the office. While Decepticons learned to judge Megatron's mood some time ago by judging the behavior of his pets, this was a new development. Once Sam started training with Glit, he did a lot of minor, intricate repairs that normally went to the bottom of the triage list. All of the Decepticons saw the glyphs in Sam's eyes. For the first time in the history of the Decepticon occupation of Earth, they cared about the welfare of a human.

Time passed. Sam grew before Megatron's eyes, until he was taller than his father by about an inch. . Sam occasionally got into trouble with Wheelie and Brains, but minor nonphysical punishments worked fine to correct his behavior. The Decepticon leader enjoyed pampering the boy, dressing him in bright clothes, ensuring that he ate well, and got the sunshine and physical activity he needed to stay healthy. Megatron sent Ronald away on errands more and more. Six years after Sam became his pet, Megatron brought Sam to his desk, and gave him the news. "Sam, there has been an accident…" He comforted the mourning child as best he could.

There was no doubt this time that Ronald was dead. Megatron saw the body himself. Besides, he knew Ronald would never abandon his child. He used drones for gathering information on the humans after Ronald's death. Sam had no contact with other humans. After all, his pet was perfectly content with learning repairs from Glit and serving his master by polishing and doing other small personal services. The tutoring continued, as Megatron found Sam intelligent and was curious to see how much he could learn. Why upset him with harsh realities, such as the way most humans lived?

Once Sam hit puberty, Soundwave started getting nothing but static from him. This circumstance disturbed the telepath. "Let me monitor him for a time," he requested. "Glit wants to train him. I can use that." Megatron gave him permission. Two weeks later, Soundwave did his routine reports and by com requested that his master send Sam out of the room. Megatron sent his pet outside with Ravage. Soundwave played a hologram.

Glit was supervising as Sam worked on Frenzy. The cassette was in forced stasis or Glit would never have allowed the fragile human near the irritable spy, who had brawled with Rumble a little too hard. "What do you think of the Master, Sam?" the medic cassette asked.

"He's good to me," Sam said. The room was only dimly lit, so Sam could see the glow of the energon in the sensor to work. Glit had no trouble watching the human's expression as Sam worked. The human's hands worked in the small sensor easily, protected from energon burn by the gloves Glit devised for him.

"But what do you think of him? Do you think he is a good leader?" Glit pressed.

"He's the  _Master_ ," Sam answered, as though that was the end of the matter."I think this is finished."

Glit checked. "Very good, youngling," he approved. "You prove your worth twice over, with your work and your loyalty. I am proud of you." Sam glowed with pleasure at the compliment.

The hologram ended. Megatron hummed in satisfaction. "He is mine," he purred. "When it is time to find the Cube and the Matrix, he will serve us well indeed. So helpess, so innocent, so naive, so loyal- oh, yes. When the time comes to deal with Optimus, he will serve us very well indeed. "

 


	3. Chapter Three :A change of Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sam and Bumblebee have a visitor and a change in place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers, though I wish I did.

Bumblebee came out of recharge to find the youngling drawing on the wall. The marker he was using differed from the one he used on the scout's legs earlier. The glyphs glowed at first, but when the glow faded, the writing remained. Tearing his eyes off the glyphs, he looked at the youngling. Sam drew without stopping, totally focused on some inner stimulus. While the scout stayed still, he wondered if Sam would notice a firefight going on around him at this moment.

The last glyph faded. Sam shuddered and looked around. Shivering, he put the marker away and came back to Bumblebee and the blanket he abandoned in his trance. Carefully, the scout put an arm around him, and the human huddled into the offered warmth and went back to sleep. Bumblebee stared at the glyphs, disturbed by their uncanny appearance. A drone appeared, scanned the glyphs, and left. Bumblebee slipped back into recharge. Sam woke him at some point when he got up to use his void pail, but both of them went back to their rest afterward.

Bumblebee woke to the sound of large metal footsteps approaching. Expecting Megatron and violence, Bumblebee placed Sam in a corner and stood to face them. Soundwave appeared, flanked by guards, with Ravage trailing behind. The scout's spark pulsed. While he never endured Soundwave's scans before, he spoke to others that did. Starscream was bad and Megatron was worse, when it came to physical interrogations. But Soundwave-with Soundwave you never knew, because he might scan lightly or deeply, and no one ever knew which, and the sense of violation-

Tentacles reached out and snatched the youngling. Bumblebee heard Sam mumble something and move as Soundwave wrapped him in another blanket and set him outside the cell. Ravage curled up around him. As soon as Megatron's pet was out of the way, the guards headed in. Bumblebee fought for all of maybe thirty seconds before the much larger Decepticons had the scout pinned to the wall. He felt it when the scan started; the questions came over the com and the answers rose in his processor even as he struggled to blank it. His mission and what he learned, what he thought of Sam, what he saw-the information rose in him and he could not stop it; he was glad he knew nothing important-

Then it was over. When they let him go he slid down the wall to sit, his processor reeling from the cold mental invasion. Soundwave scanned the glyphs. Then he placed Sam back in the cell, his tentacles touching the youngling's hair gently before he left, the guards following him. Ravage went to nuzzle Sam gently before snarling at Bumblebee and leaving the cell. The bars glowed again. As the sound of footsteps faded, Sam stirred and worked his way out of his cloth cocoon. Bringing the blankets with him, he came back over to Bumblebee. He draped one over each of the scout's legs, and then climbed on his chassis. "This will help," he murmured. Beginning by the scout's head, he began rubbing over sensors. From one to another he moved, and as he moved, the scout felt the tension leave him and the horror lessen. By the time Sam gathered his blankets again, warmed by contact with the Autobot, Bumblebee was able to slide into recharge as Sam settled by his side again.

The sounds of wheels, heavy feet, and an argument woke both of them.

"But he needs to refuel," Brains wailed, coming in with Wheelie as the cart again. Sam got up and headed for the bars again; Bumblebee remembered that humans needed to refuel at once a day to survive and more often if they were to thrive. Behind the blue-haired drone appeared another Seeker, one Bumblebee never saw before. He stared. The Seeker was lean and bent, black all over, and using a battleax as a cane. Was he that old, or that worn?

"I'll give him time for that, but I'm under orders myself, you idiot!" The bars on part of the cell died, like before. Sam stood up and walked toward Brains and the Wheelie cart. "Sorry to wake you, youngling."

"What's wrong, Jetfire?" Sam asked, accepting the container Brains gave him and sitting down to eat. Brains unloaded the cart again, and Wheelie transformed.

"The glyphs, and orders," Jetfire told him. "Now eat. We've brought a change of clothes and means to clean up." Jetfire cast an appraising look at Bumblebee. "So a soft-sparked Autobot got to see what only this boy's sire and Megatron have seen. What was it like?" Bumblebee played the scene in holoform. Jetfire let out a grinding noise. "Bollocks."

As soon as Sam swallowed the last bite, Brains and Wheelie grabbed him, and proceeded to strip and wash him down with a bucket of steaming water, some kind of cloth, and a solvent. "I can clean myself!" he protested, "Quit treating me like a sparkling," before being muffled by one working on his hair and the other on his face. They produced a new outfit, this one in bright red and deep browns.

After an irritated Sam voided, Jetfire said, "I'm under orders from Lord Megatron. The Fallen wants to see you." Sam stiffened. Jetfire gave him an intense look. "You know what that means."

Sam nodded, the movement jerky. Bumblebee could tell how tense the youngling was. The drones loaded his backpack with food packets and water bottles, frequently casting anxious looks at Sam and furious ones at Jetfire. Bumblebee whistled an inquiry-who was this Fallen that Megatron listened to him? Jetfire looked over. "Wouldn't you like to know, Autobot," he sneered. "Now get out, you two. Go on, get out, scat!" The drones left, whining the whole way.

"Jetfire," the youngling whispered, "I'm scared. "

The Seeker was silent a moment. "Little one, you know how old I am, older than Megatron, almost as old as the Fallen. "Sam nodded. "I'm just as afraid as you are. We'd both be fools if we weren't. But this has to be done. We've discussed it before."

"Yes," Sam whispered. "I know. But it's hard. "There was anguish in his voice. Bumblebee crooned, and Sam looked over.

"Just so," Jetfire said, and waited. Sam closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. Then he picked up his backpack to walk over to the jet. As the bars came back up, Bumblebee got up and came as close as he could to the bars. He crooned, trying to soothe the youngling's obvious distress. Jetfire pulled a clear ball out of his subspace and placed Sam in it, before attaching a tank to it.

Then the world whited out.

When he came to himself, Bumblebee looked around, stunned. Both he and Jetfire lay sprawled on the floor, while Sam's ball rolled on the floor. He knew where he was. He just couldn't believe it. How had they gotten to the Autobot base? They were in the shuttle bay. Alarms shrieked. Sam cowered in his ball, covering his ears. Bumblebee scrambled to his pedes just as the doors crashed open, spouting Inferno, Jolt, and Steeljaw with weapons at the ready. They skidded to a stop when they saw Bumblebee. Weapons trained on the Seeker, and all three of them started talking at once.

"Seeker, we have you covered! Don't move!" As Inferno spoke, the lights brightened. Sam desperately dove into his backpack, his eyes watering.

"Bumblebee, how did you get here?" Jolt asked.

"What's this?" Steeljaw stopped the rolling ball and peered at the human inside it. When he noticed how the noise distressed the being inside, Bumblebee heard him sent out an open com to the security station. The alarms went off. Sam relaxed and dove into his backpack, pulling out his glasses. Bumblebee saw Steeljaw's expression and knew he'd seen Sam's eyes.

"Quiet!" Jetfire bellowed. Everyone shut up. More Autobots crowded in, including both Prowl and Jazz. The third in command reached down and picked up the ball. Steeljaw said something Bumblebee did not hear as Jetfire went on, "If I intended to attack, would I have brought a youngling human and your scout with me? "

"No, "Prowl said, and his calm voice helped settle the others. Jazz walked away with the ball. "Inferno, Jolt, cover our visitor. Do not make any threatening moves, Seeker. Bumblebee, report." Bumblebee sent a burst of data detailing his search, capture, and the events in his cell with Sam. Prowl reviewed them as Jetfire waited and Bumblebee went over to Jazz. Soon after, Jazz brought Sam over to Prowl.

"Look up and let him see, little one," Jazz told Sam, who took off the dark glasses and looked up.

Prowl looked and turned to Jetfire. "Bumblebee heard you say that you were ordered to take this young one to the Fallen," the second in command noted. "Why are you here?"

"I did not. I said that the Fallen was asking to see Sam, and that I had orders from Lord Megatron," Jetfire corrected. "I am under standing orders to deal with two matters for Lord Megatron. One, to review any glyphs the youngling writes. The other concerns the Fallen. Until recently, he had no interest in Megatron's pet Witwickys. Should at any time the Fallen want to see Sam, I was to bring him to Optimus Prime and request his protection for the human." He paused. "I also need to speak with Prime, both regarding the youngling and another matter. I have reason to believe that your special ops commander has some idea why."

Prowl absorbed that information and looked at Jazz. They communicated privately, as Bumblebee took Sam's bubble. They waited. "If you will allow us to search you and disable your weapons," Prowl said, "and allow our medic to complete a scan for harmful software, I will arrange the meeting that you request. Bumblebee, you must be cleared as well. "He looked down at the bubble. Sam looked back, his glasses in place. "Little one, Ratchet will take you out of the ball, but you must be examined before I can take you to the other humans. I will search your container there. "

Sam scrambled to his feet. "You have other humans here?" he said, more animated that Bumblebee had yet seen. "Please can I see them? I'll do whatever you want. I haven't seen another human since my sire died!"

"Once Ratchet clears you, you may," Prowl said. Jazz growled something about cruelty in Cybertronian.

"Lord Megatron's orders," Jetfire said in a low voice as Bumblebee walked ahead with Sam. Bumblebee heard him clearly but he doubted the youngling could. "His sire tried to arrange for the youngling to see other humans children, and not only did the Master punish him, he told Ronald that if he had completed the arrangements, the Master would have ordered the ones who saw him destroyed. Said he didn't want the little one attacked by other humans because of his flaw."

At the medbay, Ratchet had two berths ready for the exams. He started the virus scans on both Cybertronians before he turned to the bubble. Jazz and Prowl waited at the door, having sent Inferno and Jolt back to their regular duties. Both left with regretful glances at Sam and Jetfire. "You're going to get jumped when you go to the rec room," the Special Ops commander observed to Bumblebee, who whistled back.

Carefully the medic turned off the tank and opened the ball. Sam squirmed out. Prowl took the ball with the backpack still in it and dumped it on the berth. "If I have to take off my glasses could you please turn down the lights a little?" the youngling human asked. "It hurts my eyes." Obligingly the medic did, and Sam took his glasses off. Ratchet whistled softly himself. "Glyphs," he said softly, "like the ones on the All-Spark. How did this happen, little one?"

"I was born with them," Sam said, and told him about Glit and Scalpel's conclusions. "Since I can see the way the energon moves, I can do little repairs like the sensors and small patches." Ratchet frowned. "I did Bumblebee's repairs," Sam added defensively.

"You shouldn't be repairing at all, with energon as dangerous to humans as it is," the medic growled, but he went to look at Bumblebee's repairs. "Decent job," he approved reluctantly.

"I wanted to do something besides be the Master's pet," Sam said. "If I don't do the little repairs, they don't get done. Glit 's too busy and Hook is a fragging picky glitch that doesn't like to do repairs."

Jazz and Bumblebee snorted with laughter at the cursing. Ratchet fought a smile and lost. "Coverings off so I can examine you, please. Such language in a youngling," he reproved.

"Says the master of cursing," Jazz said. Bumblebee agreed; he'd heard Ratchet curse for an hour straight and never repeat himself. "I guess you hear it all in a medbay. Right, kid?"

Sam shrugged as he took off his clothes, revealing a pale thin body with no marks on it. "I got in a cursing contest with Frenzy once when I was repairing Starscream, until Soundwave made us stop."

"Who won?" Jazz asked.

"Oh, he did," Sam informed him as the medic did a gentle exam, "I wasn't trying that hard. Frenzy doesn't like it when he loses. I was doing it because Starscream thought it was funny and didn't whine the whole time I was repairing him. Soundwave got mad at Frenzy, though, said that wasn't the kind of language the Master wanted me to learn. That was just silly, since I'd heard everything Frenzy said on the Master's desk, most of the time from the Master, especially when he's torqued off about something. The only difference was that Starscream and Frenzy told me what the words meant. "

"Why were Soundwave and Starscream in the medbay?" Prowl asked. The Autobots listened, fascinated by this glimpse of life inside the Decepticon base.

"Starscream and Thundercracker got into a fight with the Coneheads and Starscream got scratched up some. Small stuff, but one of the Coneheads hit a sensor and it hurt. Glit couldn't do the repair 'cause he lost a patient and got some high grade from Swindle," Sam said. "Soundwave came to get him when he started singing. I thought it was pretty, but he gets sad when the high grade starts to wear off, so Soundwave puts him in his cassette deck before it does. " He shivered a little as Ratchet did a scan. "It's cold in here," he added.

"Done. You seem to be healthy enough," Ratchet said. As Sam dressed quickly, the medic went to check Bumblebee and Jetfire's scans. "And these are done as well. All clear on both." Prowl gave Sam the backpack, refilled.

"Optimus cleared his schedule to meet with you and Jetfire," Prowl stated. Jetfire reached for the bubble. Prowl gave it to Ratchet. "There is atmosphere in most of the ship," the strategist informed the Seeker. Jetfire hissed in irritation as Ratchet placed the bubble in a storage space. Bumblebee almost cheered; Jetfire was far less likely to warp out with the boy without that protection. "Bumblebee, you can give your report at the same time." Bumblebee bounced over to Sam and helped him down from the berth. Sam held his finger as they walked. But Sam had to trot to keep up with them at their slowest pace.

After about a mile, Prowl said, "Sam, we can move more quickly if you will allow me to carry you."

"Yes, master," Sam said, panting. He held up his hands, his head turned to the sound of Prowl's voice. Bumblebee doubted he could see at all in the brightly lit corridor, though his glasses protected his eyes. Jetfire moved, but Prowl sidestepped and scooped Sam up carefully. The seeker scowled.

"I am not your master. On this ship, and on any Autobot base, humans are not slaves. You may use the term 'sir' for respect. "He settled Sam on his arm and moved to lead the way. Jazz stayed between Prowl and Jetfire, while Bumblebee brought up the rear. "I saw that you brought a great deal of food," he added, as he moved ahead a little.

Jazz slowed, forcing Jetfire to slow as well. The scout could see that the strategist and the youngling were still talking, but he was too far back to hear them clearly, so he stayed beside Jetfire as well. "Did you inform Sam of this change of plans?" Jazz asked casually, "or just drag him along?"

"We discussed the matter a long time ago," Jetfire snapped. "I'm one of his tutors, and he stays with me when Lord Megatron travels to space. " He stomped on, glaring at Prowl's back, and ignored the rest of Jazz's jabs.

Prowl stopped, waiting for the rest to catch up. As they gathered before the conference room door, Bumblebee heard Sam say, "My Master always has more than one reason for everything he does."

It sounded like a warning.

TRTR

Optimus Prime watched as the odd group came into his office and went to the conference room that he used for private meetings. Carefully he observed his scout. Physically he looked well; the Prime looked for signs of other violations. He did not see them, despite Soundwave's interrogation. He turned his attention to his lieutenants. Both displayed wariness, unsure what this strange appearance meant. Prime shared that wariness. He heard what the human youngling standing before him said before they came in his door, and he agreed.

He utilized the time Prowl gave him by walking the party here and reviewed all the available information, including prior reports and Bumblebee's information. He dimmed the lights as Prowl placed Sam on the table, and studied the youngling human Megatron claimed as his pet. Sam took off his tinted glasses and walked to him, looking up. Optimus saw the glyphs in his eyes, and drew in air. Unlike the others, he understood their meaning.

The young one saw him, but did not look at his face, as the other humans always did. His focus differed, as though he was looking for something past the surface. "You are Prime," he said-a statement, not a question.

"I am," he said, as the others watched. "And you are Sam Witwicky. Bumblebee, report." Bumblebee did. He added, as he had not in the databurst, everything he was asked and how he responded, and his opinions on how the Decepticons treated Sam. He sent the information on a wide band, so that everyone but the human could hear him. "Excellent work, as usual. Dismissed." He gave no orders about silence; Jetfire appeared publicly and there was no hiding the presence of the youngling human or the Seeker at this point. Bumblebee left, with one lingering glance at Sam. Optimus saw the friendship already budding between them.

Sam waited patiently, studying the Autobots in that odd way of his. Optimus produced cubes of energon for all the Cybertronians, and gave Sam a bottle of a drink the humans on the ship favored. Jetfire sipped and sighed. "Excellent. Thank you." It should be, the Prime thought, enjoying his own high grade. Sam sipped his drink, smiled, and drank slowly.

When the Cybertroians finished half their high grade, Optimus asked,"Prowl, are we secure?" At his second in command's nod, he added, "We meet for the first time, Jetfire. What happened that forced you to break your cover and bring me my scout and this unusual child?" He saw with some amusement that he was the only Autobot not staring at the Seeker in shock.

"The information I gave Prowl is accurate. I was –am-under standing orders to bring Sam to you if the Fallen showed an interest in him," Jetfire said. "I am also under orders to tell you of a device called the Matrix of Leadership, which the Fallen sent me to find before the beginning of the War. " As he spoke, Prowl and Jazz moved to the right and left of their leader.

"Who is this Fallen?" Optimus asked.

"He was once Megatronus Prime, but most of his power is gone, taken from him when his brothers sacrificed themselves to form a tomb around the Matrix," Sam said. He spoke in a detached voice, his gaze on nothing in particular, including the four shocked Cybertronians. "He seeks to gather the energon he needs by using the Matrix of Leadership to power the Solar Harvester and harvest the Sun. Once he does so, he will continue to destroy other organic life as he can, using the hatchlings in stasis at his lair. "

Sam finished his drink as they processed that information. "I never told you that!" Jetfire exclaimed.

"Is it accurate?" Jazz asked.

"On who the Fallen is, yes," Jetfire admitted. "The rest is news to  _me_!" He shook his head, a habit he picked up from humans long ago. "But it fits."

Prowl said. "Megatron sent you here to tell us this. Why?" He looked from Sam to Jetfire. "As the youngling said, Megatron always has more than one reason for doing anything."

"The Cube is on the Earth," Sam reminded all of them. "As long as it is hidden there, my master does not want the Sun destroyed. He wants to rebuild and rule Cybertron using Earth. Destroying them would be a little counterproductive."

"Your master is the leader of the Decepticons," Prowl pointed out. "Why doesn't he deal with the Fallen?"

Jetfire huffed. "Megatron calls the Fallen 'master', and for a good reason. He's the reason the war started in the first place, creating the Decepticon faction. Megatron leads the Decepticons, but the Fallen rules them because Megatron can't defeat the Fallen. Only a Prime can."

"And of course Optimus being the only Prime, Megatron wants him to do his dirty work?" Jazz asked in disbelief. "So why should we do anything at all? Let the Matrix sit while we protect the two of you here. " He finished his high grade and dispersed the cube.

"The Matrix is a powerful artifact," Optimus said slowly, looking at Sam and Jetfire. "There was a time when there was no Prime without a Matrix. " He considered the glow of his energon before finishing his own cube, along with Jetfire and Prowl. "This need not be decided now. Jetfire, you may speak with Jazz and Prowl as needed but I ask that you speak to no one else." Jetfire agreed.

"What do the glyphs that the youngling drew mean?" Prowl asked. "Has he done others?"

"'The ally of both is more dangerous than the ally of none,'" Jetfire answered. "And you know as much as I do on that one. The others Optimus knows of. One leads to the Matrix, and it only took me, and Sam working with me, eight years to figure out the first!"

"I need to void," Sam said, breaking the tension.

"Then I will take you to the human section," Optimus said. "Prowl, settle Jetfire as our guest. We will meet again to discuss this matter further. "He held his hands out to the youngling, who climbed on and requested his backpack. When the Prime asked what was in it, Sam showed him. "Did your caretakers think we had no food for you?"

Sam nodded. "I never heard that you had humans here. Do you think they'll mind that I'm Megatron's pet?" he asked anxiously. "I didn't think of that before."

"From the moment you arrived on this ship, you were no longer his pet," Optimus said firmly. "And no, they won't mind. In fact, I think you'll be very happy to see one of them. " He placed Sam on the floor in front of a human sized door, and pinged.

Sam heard the muted sound of a bell from the other side of the door, and voices. He jerked to attention, excitement showing not only on his face but on every inch of his body. The door opened. "Sam?" his male human said, with wonder in his voice.

"Dad!" Sam shrieked, dumping the backpack and reaching in the direction of the voice. Optimus watched in satisfaction as Ron Witwicky put a hand on his son's shoulder and Sam threw himself into his father's arms


	4. Temptation and Response

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam learns how to act with humans, but temptation is too much for the Prime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers (sigh).

After the alarm and the glimpse that Inferno, Jolt, and Steeljaw got of the Seeker and the youngling human, the other Autobots's curiosity ran high. As soon as Bumblebee showed up in the rec room, they pounced; Blaster steered him to a table where Smokescreen shoved a cube of energon in his servos. Bumblebee drank his first cube while they waited impatiently-while he did not need refueling as often as the humans did, the Decepticons offered nothing during his time with them and he lost fluid from his injuries before Sam repaired them. Then, as he sipped his second, he gave essentially the same report that he gave to his superiors. The noise level in the rec room tripled as the speculation started. All of them wanted to see this human youngling with the glyphs in his eyes.

Red Alert expressed his opinion of Jetfire and Sam in the rec room when he argued with Inferno. "Sam's only a youngling and almost completely blind," Inferno told him. "What kind of harm can he do?"

"He's Megatron's pet and he came with a Seeker! I don't care what reason they gave for being here, I don't trust them!" Red Alert glared at his best friend.

"So was Ron when he first came," Inferno reminded him, "and even you know how happy he is, and how much useful information he gave us." Spotting the blue scout at another table, he added, "Right, Hound?"

Hound picked up his cube and came over. "But Ron didn't choose to come, "the blue scout reminded them. "I had to bring him when we rescued First Aid because he saw us, and he fought us because he was afraid Megatron would kill his son if he disappeared again. He didn't calm down until I put a hologram over one of the other humans when Megatron appeared, and they all agreed he was dead and put him in with the other bodies."

Jolt came over. "You didn't see him when Prowl said there were other humans here. He couldn't wait to see them, said he had not seen another human since his sire died."

Ratchet came over and asked, "Bee, how long was he Megatron's pet?" Bumblebee ran through his memories and told them what Starscream said, and reminded all of them that Sam helped him twice without being asked. "Red, I sent you in here to get energon and drink it, not argue over it." The security specialist glowered but he picked up the cube and started drinking. The medic frowned. "We'll talk to First Aid about that. The youngling seems to be all right. Certainly he wasn't physically abused."

Just then Jazz walked in and came over to the group in the huddle. "Hey, what's up?" The gist of the argument washed over him as everyone tried to express an opinion at once. "Simple enough. Like Inferno says, he's a human youngling. He can't operate our equipment; he can't send a message unless he swallowed something Ratchet missed in his exam." He sent an inquiring look at the medic.

"Extremely unlikely but I'll have First Aid look him over," the medic said. "He did a lot of work with the humans when Megatron got hold of him, so he'll have a better idea what to look for."

"Prowl didn't find anything questionable in his backpack or his clothing," Jazz added, and ran his optics over all of them. "And we will take good care of him. He's special somehow, and we need to figure out just why he has glyphs in his eyes and draws glyphs in the language of the Primes. "He sighed. "At the same time, Megatron sent him. So we keep an optic on him, and see what's what. "

"You can bet I'll do that," Red Alert assured him grimly.

Bumblebee took Sam to be examined by First Aid, only to see them greet each other happily. "Sam fixed me up a few times," he told the scout, "when those pieces of slag knocked me around a few times for the fun of it. They did that with all the neutrals if they thought they could get away with it." He turned to Sam. "Here, lie down on the blanket, it's warm. I always wanted to see if there was something we could do for your eyes, but I couldn't get the material."

"Like you could have found the time," Sam said affectionately. As he undressed and lay on the blanket First Aid warmed for him, he added in Bumblebee's direction, "Glit liked First Aid to look me over because he worked with humans all the time. He'd give me a checkup and I'd do his small repairs, like the ones you had. The Master said he died at the same time as Dad."

First Aid told him, growing earnest as he did his exam, "He was so afraid Megatron would kill you if he disappeared again. He missed you. We're done." As Sam dressed again, he said, "Let's go over to the lab and see if Wheeljack and Perceptor have any ideas about something for your eyes."

When Bumblebee had his turn with the monitors, seeing Sam and his sire on a screen surprised him not at all. What did surprise the scout was the total lack of hostility when Red Alert ordered, "Keep an optic on that screen. Call me over if they say anything interesting."

While he monitored other screens, his optic wandered to that one frequently. All the humans worked in the hydroponics labs and protein vats where their food grew. With the new visor, Sam could see in bright light almost as well as he could in dim now. As his sight remained severely limited, he worked with someone else, usually his father, but he could see which plants thrived and which did not by their energy signatures, and he could assist in several tasks. Today, the sire and child worked alone. "Dad," Sam said, "what do you know about the Fallen?" As he spoke, he placed the plants Ron gave him in their places, working mostly by feel.

"Not too much," his sire answered. Bumblebee noted that while Sam was slightly taller than his sire, Ron's body was much thicker. The color of their hair was the same, but the sire's was thinner and sprinkled with grey. They both wore the dark blue jumpsuits the humans on the base used, covered by a protective apron and gloves. "It's some kind of old Cybertronian advisor to the Master who can't leave his base. Why?"

"The Master sent me here to protect me from the Fallen," Sam said slowly. "The Fallen is older and stronger than the Master, but he won't leave his base because he's afraid a Prime will find and kill him. He wants the Matrix so he can get energon from the Sun and revive Cybertron, but the Master doesn't want him to find it."

Bumblebee motioned Red Alert over frantically. As the security specialist came, Ron said, "I thought Megatron wanted to revive Cybertron. Isn't that why he mines both the Earth and the asteroids and has all the factories for making energon?" Carefully he placed seeds to germinate as he removed the new sprouts for Sam to transplant.

"The Matrix powers a machine called the Sun Harvester," Sam informed him. They reached the last plant. Stripping off gloves, they walked to a water container to get drinks. "It would destroy the sun. The Master doesn't want that. That's why he sent me and Jetfire here when the Fallen wanted to talk to me."

"So he doesn't want the Matrix found?" Ron asked. He downed his water and refilled his cup.

"He does," Sam said, "but not by the Fallen. He wants the Prime to find it and do something with it. Something about an ally on the far side of the Moon and a ship with a bridge. "

"So if this Fallen gets it, he'll destroy the Sun," Ron said, "but Megatron believes that if the Prime gets it, he'll do something Megatron wants?" Sam nodded as he drank his own water. "Have you told Optimus?"

Sam looked worried. "I can't. When I go back, the Master will ask me what I told the Prime. You know I can't lie to any master, especially not him, Dad. You know what he did the last time." Sam's voice broke. "I can't forget how you screamed, when he shocked you over and over, saying that you should have taught me better."

Ron put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I know what he did, son," he said quietly. "I'm not going to forget those shocks, any more than you're going to forget that times he left you alone in our place in bright light for three days without your glasses, back when you were only ten. He threatened me to get you to behave, and threatened you to be sure I did what he wanted. You don't know how scared I was that he would kill you when Hound and the others made me come, until they faked my death like that. "

"I was always afraid he'd-arranged- the accident," Sam admitted in a quiet voice. "So when I thought you died, he left Wheelie and Brains with me, and he'll hurt them if he's angry enough, he might even hurt Glit." His expression was haunted. "If Soundwave could hear me, I don't think I'd even tell you."

"You're safe here. You're not going back to him. But I'll pass the word. " Sam nodded as they drew their gloves back on and went back to work, and their talk turned to what vegetable needed harvesting for the evening meal.

"Record that into these," Red Alert directed, handing Bumblebee three datapads. As the scout obeyed, he added, "He started doing that after he'd been here about fourteen of their sleep cycles, telling his sire information to pass on." He stared at the screen briefly before moving back to his own station. "He's certain that he's returning to the Decepticons. Poor youngling. "

They went back to work as Bumblebee mused over Red Alert joining the 'poor youngling' camp. Why couldn't Sam believe them he was safe here? By now Bumblebee wondered if Megatron's shadow would ever leave the human youngling.

TRTR

Optimus Prime reviewed the conversation on the datapad Bumblebee delivered, and vented air. While he met with Sam once a week, he did so with Jetfire present at Sam's request. Raised from such a young age as Megatron's pet, Sam displayed the stamp of that upbringing when he dropped information in this covert way. The Autobot leader wondered if Megatron understood how well he'd trained the youngling in deception.

Optimus believed Sam's presence in Bumblebee's cell was deliberate; Sam's punishment created the excuse to put him in the brig with the scout, with a reason that soldiers on both sides would believe without question. The Decepticon leader wanted his Autobot counterpart to know about Sam and the glyphs he produced; Optimus was certain that the timing of Soundwave's metal interrogation included ensuring that Bumblebee had that information before Jetfire brought him to the base with Sam, not knowing that Jetfire passed that information and much more on Sam already. He wondered wryly if Megatron intended to show how much his faction treasured the boy, or that part just happened.

Prowl pinged the door, and Optimus gave permission to enter. "And what do you think of the latest message, old friend?" he asked. Prowl and Jazz received copies of the recordings with him.

"The youngling is as uncertain how to proceed as we are," Prowl answered. "Primus, it frightens me how Sam understands Megatron better than anyone I know, with possibly the exception of Soundwave. "

At that moment Jazz pinged the door and joined them. "So, our little glyph-eyed wonder has dropped another hint," he said.

"I thought you liked the boy," Optimus said.

"I do like the boy. Everyone likes the boy, especially Evie." At that the three of them shared an amused glance.

When Ron introduced Sam to the other humans, the youngling human was eager to please, but socially inept. The older humans found that combination endearing. Of course, Ron knew what Sam was capable of doing and made certain he helped with the work, which helped the other humans accept him despite his assumption that at some point he would have to return to Earth. However, the youngest of the humans was a female Sam's age, who was enduring an awkward puberty, with clumsiness, spots on her face, and emotional ups and downs. She latched onto Sam as a companion of her own age. Jazz let her ride along when he took Sam to a visit with First Aid to fit Sam's new visor. While Wheeljack, Sam and Evie were talking, the medic took Jazz aside. "Tell Ron or one of the older females that the pheromones are flying off those two, but wait until the younglings can't hear you. They'll understand." Jazz passed that information to Ron and Jenny, Evie's creator. Thereafter Sam and Evie were not left alone, much to Evie's frustration.

"Smokescreen said watching Evie and Sam gave morale a boost for weeks," Optimus admitted with a laugh. Then he became serious. "I have Kup's response on our questions. " He placed the datapad from the oldest soldier they knew onto desk . "He confirms that the Matrix of Leadership not only carried power, but knowledge of our past, knowledge that a Prime was to use in his position. He said both Alpha Trion and Sentinel Prime searched for the Matrix and never found it, and he confirmed that if there's a Sun Harvester on Earth, the Matrix can be used to activate it. He also confirmed everything Sam said about Megatronus."

Jazz sighed. "That's what I don't like. Sam's a good kid, but Megatron sent him here to stir up trouble just by being what he is and telling us what he knows. He's figured that out, being the bright youngling he is, so he's trying to be sure we have everything we need in a way that won't get him in trouble with Megatron when he goes back. Not if he goes back, when. "

"I am less disturbed by what he knows than how he knows it," Prowl commented, reading through the datapad with Kup's message. "Jetfire tells us that Sam's ancestor, Archibald Witwicky, drew glyphs after his contact with Megatron, but he was glitched while he did so. He recovered to an extent, enough to give some advice on how to handle humans during coherent moments. Until Sam, no other descendent displayed this kind of knowledge, yet Ron tells me that Sam drew the 'doodles' from the time he was a sparkling able to draw."

"He is All-Spark touched in some manner," Optimus said with certainty, and vented air. "And at this time, that is irrelevant. We have some choices in this matter. One Jazz proposed the day Sam arrived, which is to keep Jetfire and Sam here and do nothing." Jazz nodded. "However, should the Fallen find the artifact, not only will he destroy Earth's Sun, meaning the human race, but he will regain his power. Prowl, Jazz, you read what Kup said about his power?"

"Yes," Prowl said grimly. "I understand now why Megatron calls him master."

"I think we have our answer then. We need to plan. Prowl, please escort Jetfire here. Jazz, if you would find Sam and Ron." He only intended to gather information, and find out how much more info he needed.

He did not expect, "We have to go with you," from both of them.

The three leaders regarded the Seeker and the human youngling whose visor hid his eyes, and the verbal battle started. Prowl gave reasoned arguments, Jazz told them they were crazy, and Optimus flatly refused to consider the matter until Sam walked up to him, took off the visor, and looked up at him. "Without me you will not find the Matrix," Sam said, his voice even and quiet. "Without Jetfire, we won't leave with it even if we find it."

"I'm going if Sam goes," Ron said.

Optimus sent Jazz to look the area over, with Mirage. As the area was deserted, they had time to search, and got as far as Jetfire had-nowhere. Prowl ran several possibilities through his battle computer. They tried every possibility that would leave the humans and the Seeker behind. When the shuttle left, it carried Optimus, Mirage, Hound and Bumblebee-along with Sam, Ron, and Jetfire.

The humans rode in the same compartment with Hound, Mirage, and Bumblebee, in a large box created for them by First Aid, Perceptor, and Wheeljack. Optimus and Jetfire were on the bridge. About halfway there, Silverbolt said, "Oops- better watch this, Prime." He showed the compartment where the others rode as a real-time hologram.

Mirage asked Sam in a mocking voice, "Ready to go back to your master, youngling?"

"Have you met Megatron?" Sam asked, amazement in his voice. He stood and walked with his hand out until he touched the wall of the box.

"I've encountered him on the battlefield," Mirage said, his voice hard .

"Then that was damned stupid question," Sam said before the spy got further, and the bitterness in his voice shocked Optimus and by their body language, his soldiers; Jetfire nodded sadly. "I'm his pet, like the Witwickys before me. "

Mirage stared at both of them. Baffled he said, "But you keep saying you're going back. What do you feel about Megatron?"

"He takes good care of me," Sam said carefully. "He's ended the factions between humans and gives them a stable government, educates them in advanced technology, and eradicated most diseases."

"I see," Mirage said, expecting this party line.

"The better to serve their masters," Sam went on. Then his face twisted in anger, and he paced walls, keeping his hand on the wall as he moved back and forth. "And in doing so, he destroyed our knowledge of their own history, eradicated their culture, and suppresses creativity., The Decepticons are a plague on my world, a plague that's killed more of my kind than any disaster ever has. The only one who can control them is Megatron."

""It is the duty of a Witwicky to stand between the Master and the rest of humanity,'" Ron quoted heavily. "I was lucky that I was able to share that duty with Sam. I know for a while at least that humans were better when there were two of us, me to talk to the other humans and Sam on his desk. " He put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "He's never taken someone so young before, but the only reason he didn't kill Sam was his eyes."

"I listen to his stories and his rants," Sam said. "I talk to him and polish him. When he comes back from seeing the Fallen, I help him the way I helped Bumblebee." He waved his hand at the yellow scout, who whistled. "He knows the Fallen twists him, and he hates it, and he knows my polishing helps untwist him. He loves having me, his naïve, loyal, helpless human, before him to remind him of his power over my kind. Because of that, he doesn't endanger me by striking out when I'm on his desk. So I can do his small repairs, he let Glit teach me. The other Decepticons like me, and they're better to humans because of that. "

"And because of that, they listened when I presented complaints, and acted on my recommendations about half the time," Ron added.

"I think drones took over when you left, but conditions were about the same the last time I checked," Hound said, and Bumblebee hummed in agreement. Mirage looked at the humans with new respect. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What will Megatron do when we get there?"

"Pits, I don't know. I expect we'll find out when we get there."


	5. Return to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which something important is found, and someone unwanted comes after it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers except in some very wistful daydreams.

Once they slid through the defense network-Bumblebee's spark always twisted at that part of the trip- they made it to Petra easily; the Decepticons ignored areas with no resources once they removed the local population in one way or another. When they arrived at Petra, Silverbolt and Mirage left to find cover. Hound and Mirage moved in a perimeter around the searchers. Bumblebee took Sam and Ron to begin the search while Optimus took another area. On the advice of Jetfire, they arrived at dusk and used the map on which Jetfire outlined where he already searched.

Bumblebee drove the two in circles, where Sam would say, "Hot," or "Cold" as Ron marked on the map. As the night wore on, and the light began to seep into the horizon, they narrowed the area down. Eventually the humans stopped to rest and refuel. Optimus joined them after his own fruitless search. Sam went to talk to the Prime while Ron waited with Bumblebee. The scout took advantage of the youngling's absence, and the datapad Ron help beeped. Ron read the message and sighed. "Why did I insist on coming?" he read aloud. "I told you, a human had to come with Sam and I'm his father."

"The others would be reintegrated into dangerous work," Bumblebee sent. "Sam says you'll be killed, immediately and probably cruelly for embarrassing Megatron."

Ron put his head back and sighed. "First off," he pointed out, "I've got the safety installed in my heart. Any of you can activate it, and kill me painlessly if I'm taken. "He sipped his water, watching Sam in Optimus' hand, talking earnestly. "But the other-I'll try to explain, but I don't know that you'll understand. Would you open your door for me?"

Bumblebee obliged. Ron got out and looked up at the stars. "I was raised and trained for service with Megatron," he said softly. "Members of my family got special treatment, the best of everything-education, food, clothes. We weren't isolated like Sam was; part of our job was to work with other humans on complaints. "

"Why isolate Sam?" Bumblebee wondered.

"To keep him naïve and loyal. Megatron knows humans well enough to know that most children Sam's age are very malleable. I don't think he ever appreciated Sam's intelligence. "

Bumblebee hummed in agreement.

Ron paced a little. "I met Sam's mother when I was about five years older than Sam. She'd already gotten her contraception shot. No one cared who I slept with as long as we didn't breed, but my father didn't like how close we were getting and he wanted us separated. I was on my way to my first assignment away from my father and she was on her way to a new assignment. Then it came out of nowhere, a tunnel of twisted wind. It picked up the transport and threw it, and it caught fire. There were only two survivors, me and Judy. The drone running the transport was destroyed when it crashed and burned. "

Bumblebee transformed and moved close to one of the buildings to sit, waving Ron with him. Ron sat on his knee and went on, "She wasn't beautiful, my Judy, but she was full of life, and so optimistic. So we went looking for help, and we found it, in the form of a bunch of feral humans who took us in. I left one of the most comfortable lives know to humans to stay with her. I remember how overjoyed she was when she got pregnant, how she loved Sam. He was a miracle, Bee; both of us had the contraceptive shots, and no antidote so we could breed. " He looked up at Bumblebee, his eyes full of old grief. "I lost her to a fever, and there was nothing I could do," he went on softly. "He's all I have left of her, and then I had to leave him. I couldn't abandon him again."

Just then Optimus said, "Mirage sees a tetrajet. Get under cover." Bumblebee could see it in the growing light, but it only went into the horizon. Soon after, the Prime said, "Sam and I agree that he needs to move on foot now. Bumblebee, accompany the humans. I will stay near. "

Even with his visor, the light was too much for Sam's sight; Ron often stopped him from walking into buildings. Frequently they circled buildings. Finally Sam moved in a circle, more and more frustrated. "It's here, I can feel it," he said, wiping his face. Both he and Ron suffered in the heat.

When Ron moved out of earshot to void, Sam whispered to Bumblebee, "Dad has to stay alive, Bee. If I don't get back and Dad does, ask Evie, she knows why." There was a strange noise Bumblebee did not recognize. Sam jerked to attention. His face contorted. "No," he whispered. "Cover, find cover, he's here, the Fallen's here-"

Primus, no, no- Bumblebee swept the humans into the nearest building; he fit himself, but barely. Even as he moved, he got the message from Optimus, and as he entered the building, Optimus moved in front of it, both his gun and his sword out.

"So you are the last Prime," someone said, and there was a sneer in that voice . "Our line grows weak. I should despise myself for my fear. You stand between me and what is mine, Prime."

"You will not have it," Optimus said, but the only response was laughter. Bumblebee watched in horror as Optimus rose bodily into the air, held by nothing. The Fallen was taller than Optimus but less massive, and he was totally focused on the Prime. Bumblebee shot, and the Fallen fell back. Behind him he heard Sam shriek. As the Prime landed on his feet, the building shuddered, and the walls cracked. Optimus swung as he fell, but his sword stopped halfway. The scout heard other shots, but a light blow to his leg distracted him.

"There a room on the other side of the wall," Ron shouted. Bumblebee turned to see Sam beating against the wall, trying to widen a large crack. He pulled the frantic human as far back as possible and fired against the floor. The wall crumbled and the humans coughed in the dust as a large hole appeared. Sam felt his way to the hole, told Ron to wait, and disappeared inside. Bumblebee turned to see Optimus fall, blocking the entrance with the front of his body. He heard other shots, shouts, but they were surreal.

Not the Prime, his mind repeated. Optimus can't die. If he does, the Autobot cause dies. He imagined the base ruined, his friends lying dead or in restraints, the Sun disappearing and the world going dark-

The huge bulk of the Prime moved up, slowly, and again Bumblebee saw the Fallen. He fired, once, twice, again and again, and the shots stopped and died before the former Prime's hand. Bumblebee found he was rising with Optimus. Then two shots rang out, one after another. One hit. The force moving the scout was gone and he fell with Optimus' chassis.

"Bee! What's wrong with Optimus? How bad is he?" Hound yelled through the com. Mirage joined in. Optimus' chassis hit the ground and shook it. Bumblebee landed on his side beside Optimus. His leader lay on his side where the scout could see his leader's empty spark chamber.

"Bee! Primus, not both of you…" Mirage was on the edge of panic. Bee could not bring himself to respond. He could feel the keen building in his throat. Before him he saw Jetfire striking at the Fallen, distracting him, and pulled up to fire again.

He saw Ron and Sam against the wall. Sam had something in his hand. When they reached Optimus, Ron leaned against the Prime, panting in the heat. "No, "he whispered. Sam kept going, feeling his way to the hole. Jetifire was maneuvering frantically, and Bumblebee angled with him so that he could get to them and warp them out. He contacted Mirage and Hound and told them to get out and hide before more Decepticons arrived, and as he did wondered where the other Decepticons were.

Sam climbed up Optimus and felt for the empty spark chamber. Bumblebee saw something glowing blue in his hand before he slammed it into the hole where Optimus' spark once resided, but Bumblebee could only spare a glance before the fight before him claimed his attention.

The Fallen struck Jetfire through the chest, spinning him around and as he fell, another shot rang out. Bumblebee threw himself on Optimus, pushing him onto his back. The impact threw the youngling off just as Jetfire landed, his spark chamber against his Prime's.

Bumblebee could see the Fallen stumble back, and disappear. I need to get the humans out of here, he thought numbly. He knew that the odds of having to use Ron's 'safety' were high, and wondered if he could do it. Before he could force himself to move, the world whited out.

TRTR

Megatron stood behind the pyramid, feeling more out of control than any time since he landed in the Arctic ice. Primus, but his master could fight! Even through the haze of his hate, he admired how the Fallen handled the Autobots. He saw Optimus, and glimpses of yellow, so the scout must be with him. He watched in stunned amazement as the Fallen struck the Prime in the chest, and the Prime went down.

Not that the former Prime remained undamaged; the Fallen showed the marks where projectiles and Optimus' sword made contact. Primus, was he going down? Megatron never expected him to die now- not that he would complain! Only seeing his revenge again the humans finally in his grasp brought the Fallen here in the first place, despite his fear that a Prime could kill him. Megatron's constant derision of his Autobot rival convinced his master of Prime's weakness.

How badly was he hurt? Megatron wondered frantically. If Optimus died, his plans died with him. Only a Prime could use a Matrix, according to the research Jetfire showed him, or he'd be down there taking it for himself! No, he needed the Prime to wake his ally on the moon so they could use earth's resources, including the labor of the humans, to repair Cybertron. Then and only then could they activate the Sun Reaper. If the humans did a good job, they would find the workers a new organic world. Maybe they would keep some as pets, since he wanted to keep his Witwickys.

Thinking of Jetfire made him appear, but the Seeker was no match for the Fallen. Move, Optimus, he urged silently. As though in agreement, the scout fell against the Prime and turned Optimus where Megatron could see the blue in the chest, where the cover of the spark chamber appeared caved in. No wonder Optimus was still- the blow must have put him in stasis. The Fallen struck Jetfire in the same way, and as Jetfire fell, Megatron took a chance and fired. Then he dropped out of sight, so the Fallen would not see who hit him. His repairs would take some time, getting him off Megatron's back until they were done.

He was gone. Yes! Gone, gone to the hideout with the hatchlings to lick his wounds. Too bad Megatron just arrived, too late to help! He was about to transform when he saw a human emerge from the ruins, clutching at one arm. Was that-Primus! He raced to the ruined building and scooped up his precious pet. Poor Sam leaked liquid from his eyes, and when he could speak, he whispered,"I failed…" and whimpered, hanging his head.

"I meant for the Prime to find the Matrix, not put you in danger," the Decepticon leader snarled, and contacted the nearest town for assistance. "Did he expect a youngling human to do his job, the fool? If Prime doesn't have the Matrix, he can't revive my ally and Cybertron will never be restored!"

Sam's head lifted. "The Prime has the Matrix, Master." His voice was hoarse and faint, but Megatron heard him.

"You're sure?" Megatron demanded. Had his plans advanced, against all odds?

"Very sure, Master, I saw it in his chest. But he was so still, and I thought, I thought-" His eyes leaked again, and he looked down. "I think my arm is broken."

Triumph soared in Megatron. "My little one, I saw the light of his spark. He was alive when Jetfire took them away. " He cradled his so incredibly useful pet in his hands. "You have done very well for me, very well indeed. But when I next see that fool of a Prime, or that idiot of a Seeker, I'll break their arms off in exchange for breaking yours." Looking up, he saw transports heading for them. "Don't worry. I'll see you get the best care, and any reward you care to name. " As he walked toward the approaching vehicles, he added, "I've missed you."


	6. Results and Non-Rewards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Autobots deal with the fallout, Megatron tried to reward Sam with poor results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers except in some very wistful daydreams.

Bumblebee tumbled to the ground from midair, and landed hard, only to have another body land on him. The body was soft and groaned. He set Ron on the ground and sat up. Ron pushed himself to a sitting position as well, looking around in a dazed manner. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around. "Wait, isn't this where we landed?"

As he spoke, Optimus hit the ground. A moment later, Jetfire fell on top of him with a huge 'bong!' that had Ron covering his ears. Both moaned before Jetfire heaved his thin carcass off of the Prime and stood up. "Primus!" he exclaimed. "I haven't felt this good in vorns!" He looked down at the frame that straightened with ease, before taking a few steps without the need for his battleax. He swung it, again moving easily. "How is this possible? I remember the Fallen striking me, then waking to gunfire and warping out!"

Optimus sat up. "I remember seeing Sam before Bumblebee knocked me over and you fell on top of me. What-" he looked down, and for the first time Bumblebee saw the piece of metal in Optimus' chest. There was no hole, as there was no hole remaining in Jetfire's chassis. The Prime plucked it from the seam in his armor and it floated between his hands, glowing slightly. It was beautiful, an intricate creation that looked far too delicate to hold such power.

"The Matrix," Jetfire said in wonder. "It brought both of us back. But how? Only a Prime can handle a Matrix. " Optimus did not respond, only taking it and placing it into his armor. He stood, and Bumblebee felt the difference in him, the new confidence and increased power.

"Sam went in that hole in the wall and found something. He pressed it in your spark chamber after you died," Ron said numbly. "When Bee fell on you and knocked you over, he got thrown. I was about to go to him when we came here. "He stood up. "Jetfire, we have to go back. He's alone with no water, in the heat and the light. " But he swayed on his feet even as he said it. After hours in the harsh heat of the desert and the frantic battle, his body betrayed his exhaustion. Bumblebee crooned, trying for comfort despite his own guilt and circled hands around the human for support. The Prime contacted Silverbolt.

"Mirage and Hound will get Sam," he said calmly. "We are leaving as soon as they join us. Ron, rest and refuel. Bumblebee, look after him." Silverbolt arrived, and produced supplies from his subspace for Ron. The human accepted the water and fuel. By the time the scout and the spy appeared, he was asleep, unable to deny his body's urgent need for rest.

On the way back, he woke and looked around. Bumblebee's spark ached at the sight of his slumped shoulders when he realized he was alone. He went to the wall of the cube. "What about Sam?" he asked. He was turning red on every part of his exposed skin, and Bumblebee could see that he hurt.

"The Fallen warped out right after you did, and I started back when I saw Sam come out of the building," Mirage said. "Before I got close, Megatron showed up, flying down from one of the pyramids." The spy shook his head in wonder. "He cradled Sam to his chest like a sparkling. If I hadn't seen it, I'd never have believed it. Sam was holding his arm, like this," he demonstrated a one arm supporting the other. "

"So he's back, like he said he would be," Ron said, slumping against the wall. "I've deserted him again." Bumblebee warbled unhappily. It was his fault that Sam was knocked off of Optimus.

"Dump the guilt," Jetfire said bluntly and huffed at the two outraged looks he got. "First off, Ron, you never deserted Sam deliberately. He didn't want you to come in the first place because we all know Megatron would probably kill you on sight. Megatron sent Sam to Optimus for his safety, but he had no intention of leaving Sam there, and Sam knew it. "

"Optimus would never force a human back to Earth," Mirage contested hotly.

"Oh? Megatron is perfectly capable of torturing the next captive on a live feed to get Sam back." The three scouts flinched. "Even if Optimus could stand that, Sam couldn't, and Megatron knew it. Besides, he treasures Sam, you saw that. "

"He's that attached to Sam?" Hound said in disbelief.

"Megatron? Don't make me laugh," the Seeker snapped. "Fond of him, yes. That attached? He's not capable of it. He thinks his only hope of finding the Cube is Sam. 'Where the created lake stands, the passage is revealed to the eyes that can see' are how the glyphs read. And Bumblebee, if you didn't knock Optimus over, I'd still be dead and Primus only knows what either the Fallen or Megatron would do to any of you. Megatron could stall only so long. "

"I know Sam believed he'd go back, that he'd have no choice," Ron said. He straightened, still unhappy but clearly better.

"Won't Sam be punished for helping Optimus get the Matrix?" Hound asked, worry in his voice.

"Is there anything between your audials besides air?" Jetfire asked him, and smacked him with the battleax he still carried with him. "Why do you think we only fought the Fallen and not half the Decepticon army?"

Hound seized the battleax and shoved it away. "Because we managed to sneak in!"

"And once the Fallen found us? " Jetfire asked.

"I was a little busy fighting," the blue scout snarled back, but from the looks he and Mirage exchanged, they were thinking what Bumblebee was.

Bumblebee sent, "Something hit the Fallen just before we left. And we saw a tertrajet before the Fallen appeared. That was Megatron, wasn't it? He was close by. He wanted Optimus to have the Matrix."

"Exactly," Jetfire agreed. "With the Matrix, there's a good chance Optimus can defeat the Fallen. That, and there's someone Megatron wants revived on the moon. Who, I have no idea. So far as I know, the only thing on the Moon is a transfer base and a wrecked ship called the  _Ark_. "

Some time later, Bumblebee sought quiet in the hydroponics room of the humans sector. Everywhere else, the plans to raid the Moon and find out what was left of the  _Ark_  kept the Autobots keyed up with excitement. The humans helped as they could, but here where where the humans grew their food plants, there was quiet, and he could think.

Sentinel Prime left Earth in the  _Ark_  with a new technology, but everyone assumed the ship was lost when Starscream attacked it and it careened off into space. Somehow it must have followed the Cube, which was so thoroughly lost on Earth that Megatron had not found it in a vorn. Already there was a mission to scout the area going on now. They all hoped the new technology, with the brilliant Sentinel to work it, would turn the tide of the war. But something nagged at Bumblebee, something so vague that it would only hover in his processor and not come into focus. That, and he missed Sam. He had only known the youngling human for a few months, but he still missed the boy unreasonably.

A noise caused him to turn. Evie came in, head down and not seeing him. Evidently she sought the same solitude he had. He warbled to her, and she looked up. He beckoned and she came over, her mood lighting a little. "Hi, Bee," she said as he sat. She climbed on his knee. "Thinking of Sam? I was, tooBefore he left, Sam said to talk to one of you if he didn't come back." She wiped at her eyes, which started to water. "Give me a minute," she said. "I volunteered to pick the veggies for dinner."

He whistled in understanding and went with her, holding the basket as she gathered different pieces of plant. When the basket was full of green beans, tomatoes, and soybeans, she set them by the door. "You know, he didn't want to go back," she said sadly. "He liked it here. He said," her voice wobbled a moment," he said here he was a person and not a pet. I asked him why he had to go back, and he said that Megatron was the only one who could keep the Decepticons from getting worse than they already were. He said Megatron used humans, but if it weren't for that, there wouldn't be any humans left. " She rubbed at her eyes, losing the battle to hold back her tears.

Bumblebee had to agree. In fact, Megatron's preoccupation with Earth gave the Autobots a much-needed opportunity to consolidate their forces and maintain bases, while gaining ground on Cybertron itself. Of course, Ultra Magnus personally blowing Shockwave into his component parts helped with that objective. While Optimus and the Autobots did sympathize with the humans-resulting in the small community on the base- they did not have the resources or the inclination to remove Megatron. The only thing they wanted from Earth was the Cube, and their chances of gaining that were miniscule.

Bumblebee crooned for her as she got the tears under control. The yellow scout looked at the lines of equipment with growing things in them. The room was brightly lit for them, and there was a smell of dampness and dirt and greenery in the room. It was soothing. The base was on a large asteroid, and there was no life or atmosphere outside the base itself.

"Two things he asked me to tell you," she said softly. "One was to remind you about the last set of runes he drew. They said that 'the ally of both is more dangerous than the ally of none." He said that his master talked about how he wanted the Prime to revive his ally on the moon, but he never understood why Megatron thought Optimus would revive his enemy's rival. So he thinks there must be some kind of trick. That was all he knew."

Bumblebee ran that idea through his processors for a time. There was a lot of speculation over who Megatron's ally could be. He tried to dismiss the idea that squirmed its way to the front of his processor, but it did not want to go away.

Evie got down. "I'm getting hungry," she said. "I better get these down to the kitchen." As she picked up the baskets, she stopped and turned back to Bumblebee. "Oh. The other thing he said was, if not for the Cube, he wouldn't be here, and it's where he was made. That means his dad is the only person who knows where it is."

TRTR

Megatron returned from dealing with the Petra aftermath to find Sam asleep in the medbay, with Wheelie and Brains hovering nearby. He was lying in the bed from his quarters, his arm encased firmly in a cast of some lightweight material and tucked into a sling. Every part of his skin that Megatron could see was bright pink. "How is he?" the Decepticon leader asked.

The two drones exchanged private coms before Brains said, "Not good, Master. Glit said he was overheating due to loss of fluids and the burns from sun exposure, and overexertion, and he's in a lot of pain. "

"Glit had to give him something so he could deal with the bone being straightened," Wheelie said, subdued. "He-screamed and cried and cursed when Glit tried without it. We had to help hold him down even after he got the drug."

"And of course the neutral medic working with the humans was snatched up by the stupid Autobots," Megatron growled, "like every other useful neutral we ever found. Ungrateful glitches, he thought resentfully. While the neutrals always said they wanted Cybertron restored, they never wanted to assist. That will change when I have my ally, he thought. They'll crawl to me, all the neutrals, and even Autobots might come along if his ally worked matters right.

Wheelie nodded. Just then Soundwave came in. "Master," he droned, and opened his chest to pop Glit out. The medic bowed to Megatron and hurried to his organic patient, subspacing something as he moved.

"What is that?" Megatron asked.

"Liquid to put into his fluid lines, Master," Glit responded as he rubbed his hands with a liquid, raw alcohol by the smell. "He purged the water I gave him. I have medicines for pain and a spray for his skin." As he spoke, he worked over Sam, moving his unbroken arm and searching. Sam jerked and opened his eyes as the medic pressed something into him. A moment later, the medic attached the bag to the wall beside the bed. Sam looked around, his eyes unfocussed.

"Masster?" he slurred. "You won't let the Fallen take the Sun? Please?" He moved restlessly. "It hurts," he whined, moving his unbroken arm to the hand of the broken arm and tugging at the needle in his arm. Glit pulled the arm back. "Not the Prime, please Primus, not the Prime!"

"Human: dreaming," Soundwave stated. Megatron looked at him in surprise. "Drug allowing flashes of insight. "

"Optimus has the Matrix, Sam," Megatron told him, and stroked him lightly on his chassis. "The Prime is alive."

Sam wailed, "Not the Sun! Please, let some of my people live!" He cringed from the touch. "Please, not Optimus, not Jetfire- I'm sorry, Master, I know I failed-"

"He cannot hear you, Master," Glit said, as he and Wheelie tried to keep Sam still.

Soundwave looked thoughtful. "Processor glitching. Greatest fears and pain cycling. Terror from battle, belief of Prime's death, belief of Jetfire's death. Fear of failure, destruction of sun, extinction of species." He sighed. "Fears Master will not prevent due to his failure. Fears Master will reject him." He paused. "Difficult to understand. Static goes in and out. "

"Sam is mine and I will never let him go," Megatron said flatly. "Can he hear you?" Soundwave was not sure. "Try."

"Attempting," Soundwave stated. A moment later, Sam quieted and closed his eyes, settling back into sleep. "Succeeded: reassurance, Prime alive, Jetfire alive, mission success, Master pleased."

Glit said, "When he has enough fluid, he'll recover." He stroked Sam's hair lightly. "He is young and strong, Master. With rest and care he will be back on your desk within a few days. The bone will heal in about a month."

"Good," Megatron stated. "When he wakes, makes sure he has his favorite fuels, anything he's expressed an interest in lately, and tell him I'm pleased with him. " He turned to go, and paused. "Is he old enough to breed now? Expressed an interest?"

The drones and the medical cassette consulted each other via private com. "I think he's old enough," Glit said, "but I will check with some of the human medics. I've never heard him express an interest in breeding."

"When his sire was alive and you talked of breeding him, Sam said he'd like a younger sibling," Brains said, "but he's never talked about breeding himself."

"He might not know what it is," Wheelie commented. "It's not like he's around other humans. "

Megatron snorted at the idea. "He's human and male. He'll figure it out," he predicted.

Soon after, Megatron met with Swindle and Hook on a building project. Both worked regularly with humans. By this time Sam had recovered fully and was back on his desk, but he had changed. He was still eager to please, but he talked less, and tended to brood more. He told Megatron everything he ever said to the Prime. Sam tended to repeat conversations with the tone and as close as he could come to the sound of the speaker. Hearing him try to lower his voice to the deepness of the Prime amused Megatron immensely; his imitations of Jazz, Prowl, and Ironhide kept the Decepticon leader laughing. Sam assured his Master that the Autobots never hurt him, but they did confine him to a set area and wouldn't let him stay with Jetfire though they let him visit. "Prime talked to me a lot, but only when Jetfire was there," he said. "But how can Jetfire get them to revive your ally, Master? "

Megatron laughed. "He need only tell them that something is on the Moon, my pet, and Optimus will do the rest. " He concluded that the forced absence from his master and the violence of the battle left its mark on his delicate pet, and hoped that the chance to breed would restore him to his normal cheerful self.

"I want to reward Sam," he told the Constructicons. "I'm thinking of breeding him, if he's old enough."

The comment met with a howl of laughter from Swindle. "Master, at the age he is, he's probably doing self-service. That's a year over when they get their contraception shots. "

"Is he ill?" Hook asked. "I thought you waited to breed your pets." He gathered the plans and subspaced them.

"Normally,'" Megatron agreed, "but he's the last, and I want his line to continue. Besides, he's due a reward and I want to cheer him up. You know how he is about fights, and he was in the middle of the battle when the Autobots took the Matrix." He stood. "I'll send out specifications, and ask for recommendations," he told them. While the search went on, he instructed Wheelie and Brains to install a camera in Sam's quarters. The prior one glitched soon after Ron died and he never bothered to replace it as Wheelie and Brains were in almost constant attendance on the younger Witwicky. However, Megatron wanted to be sure that the breedinging actually happened. Once a Witwicky rejected a female who then bred by another male and claimed the child as a Witwicky. Megatron wanted only Sam's offspring. He knew most humans disliked being watched while they bred. A camera Sam knew nothing of would negate that problem.

Receiving several suggestions, Megatron made his choice and instructed Wheelie and Brains to make the arrangements. When Sam left, he waited for a time and activated the camera, only to discover it was glitched again. However, the screeching that met his audials informed him how matters were progressing . He moved and stood where he could see Sam's quarters, but remained in his office.

"What's wrong with you? Men beg me to sleep with them. I'm beautiful and I'm smart. My children will get good jobs like I've got!" She kicked the door. "You should be begging me to breed for you, you deformed idiot!" She was lovely, with dark hair and eyes and a face that most men approved. Megatron chose her for her beauty and her intelligence. Unfortunatly he had not considered the matter of personality.

"I can't see you, and you act like Frenzy in a bad mood," Sam yelled back from the firmly shut door. " And you have an ugly voice! I wouldn't inflict your kids on my Master!" Then he started cursing, she responded, and Megatron was distracted into admiration for the cursing contest. She kicked the door a few more times as they screamed at each other. There was silence as both of then caught their breath. Megatron judged that contest as a draw. Then she started crying.

"Please," she pleaded. "I'll get beaten if I don't at least try. Please let me in. I'll-I'll-" she started sobbing too hard to speak. Soon after, the door opened and he let her in. A few hours later,Megatron sent Brains to check on them. He reported that both were on the bed, both asleep, fully dressed and back to back. Megatron told him to take the girl back.

The next day, he saw Wheelie scuttling out of the door with a bag. "What's that?" he asked. When Wheelie did not answer at once, he took the bag from him and emptied it. Components of camera scattered on the floor, most of the parts smashed to pieces.

 


	7. Aftereffects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron worries about Sam, and Optimus finds his ally isn't what he thinks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers; I only play with the characters and wish I did

Blind Ambition Chapter Seven

Megatron looked at the debris of the camera and then at Wheelie. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Wheelie admitted. "Brains called me when he took the girl away. He said Sam seemed to be upset. When I got there, he'd taken it apart, and he was smashing the components to pieces with a hammer. Then he curled up and cried. It was almost as bad as when his sire died."

"I told you to hide the camera," the Decepticon leader said mildly, amazed by the detailed destruction. Somehow his surprise reward triggered this violent rage in his pet. Why?

"We did, Master," Wheelie said, cringing. He knew that tone. "It was imbedded in the wall. I don't know how he saw it." He flinched when Megatron moved, but the blow he expected did not fall; the Master turned to the door of his pet's quarters. Wheelie rolled back as quickly and quietly as he could, almost colliding with Brains.

"Sam, come out," the Master said. For a few seconds, he wondered Sam would defy his Master but the door opened, and Sam came out. His hair stood up in places. His face looked drawn and his eyes tired and reddened. He still wore yesterday's clothes, wrinkled from being slept in even for so brief a time. He blinked and rubbed his eyes against the light, which was uncomfortably bright without his glasses or visor. He tilted his head, listening for the sound of Megatron's systems. "Would you care to explain the state of the camera?" Megatron asked.

"It reminded me of the Autobots," Sam said, managing to keep his voice steady. "They watched me all the time. I expected that, they didn't trust me. "Then his composure crumbled, and he emitted a choked sob. "I thought  _you_ trusted me! Then I saw that thing. And then that bitch, telling me I was ordered to breed with her-"His voice rose in defiant despair. "Why should I breed a child to take my place?"

For a moment Megatron wondered if his auditory units malfunctioned. Why would Sam think his master questioned his loyalty? "Is there some reason I would want to replace you?"

"If the Fallen ordered-"Sam whispered. "I thought- you'd breed me first- "

True, Megatron mused. "Why would the Fallen order me to kill you?" he prompted.

"Revenge," Sam said. "Optimus couldn't find the Matrix, Master, just like Jetfire and the Fallen couldn't. That's why he brought me back to Earth, so I could find it for him."  His eyes no longer leaked, but he vented unsteadily.

Megatron knew his pet was All-Spark–touched, but this news sent a shock through his core systems. "And what else?" He bent down and scooped up his pet . "There's more, my little one," he prompted. He sent a com for Wheelie to make Sam some of the soothing tea Glit found for him.

"I-"Sam curled up in his hand, his misery clear to the master who knew him well. "I-I know it happened, Master, but now that I'm home, it doesn't seem real. I keep wondering if I'm glitched, the way Archibald was."

Megatron restrained his impatience with difficulty. "Tell me what happened." He moved to his desk, setting Sam down but keeping his servos around him.

"I could feel the Matrix when I got to Petra," Sam said, and once he started talking, the words tumbled out of him in a rush, telling how he searched, about the frustration, and then the arrival of the Fallen and the battle. "There was so much noise, and the building shook, and all the dust-I couldn't think straight, all I could think was that I had to find the Matrix and get it to Optimus so he could have a chance against the Fallen, or all of us were dead. It was close, I could feel it, but until the wall cracked I couldn't figure out where it was. Bee widened it for me, and when I went through part of the wall fell and threw me to the floor. It hurt, it hurt a lot, and then it stopped hurting and I saw  _them_." Sam huddled against the large servos that circled him, seeking the warmth and security.

"Hurry up with that tea," Megatron told Wheelie, then softened his voice to Sam, trying to ease his distress. "What do you mean by  _them_ , little one?"

"The Fallen's brothers," he said softly. The Fallen's brothers? The ancient Primes? "They told me I earned the right to use the Matrix, that I was their chosen one who could meld the two parts into one. They said to put the Matrix in Optimus's spark chamber." He started shivering. "I didn't understand until I came out, and Optimus was lying across the chamber door. He was dead, Master. There was no energy where his spark should be. But after I put the Matrix in, I got knocked off of him. I couldn't tell if it worked."

Wheelie arrived with a steaming cup. "Here," Megatron told him, and thought as Sam drank. He understood now why Sam said nothing. Either Sam was glitched, or there was a great deal more to his pet than he ever realized. "So the Ancient Primes spoke to you," Megatron said, his processor reeling.

"You believe me?" Sam asked urgently, pushing himself up.

"I saw the spark in Optimus, "Megatron told him. "Get some rest," he added, putting Sam down by Wheelie. As Sam left, he got to work on the petty administrative scrap that always covered his desk. By the time it was down to a manageable level, he decided that he would wait to breed Sam for now, until he calmed down a little. As for the story Sam blurted out- well, only time would tell if Sam was glitched or not. As he reviewed Hook's report on the status of the project, he wondered which was more disturbing: if Sam dreamed it all, or if he had not.

Voices outside his door interrupted his thoughts. He looked up when Starscream almost fell in the door. Scorch marks patterned his chassis and he vented hard. "Autobots raided the  _Ark_ ," he got out. "Thunderscracker's in medbay, and half the mechs at the relay station got damaged. They got some pillars and a body."

"I will inspect the damage," Megatron said. "Make the arrangements. " He summoned Wheelie. "See that Sam stays with Glit in the medbay until I return. He is not to be alone at any time. If he displays more violent behavior, confine him to his quarters but be sure he has everything he needs."

So it begins, he thought gleefully. As he expected, he received a message shortly after which sent him to the command ship and the Fallen. He arrived to find Jetfire and Sentinel standing over a pile of rust. The Fallen's face disintegrated as he watched. "So," he said, "Do you have the space bridge with you?"

…

In the medbay, Sam and Glit worked over two of the mechs from the relay station on the Moon. By this time, they were down to minor problems that Sam could handle alone . Wheelie came in as the human pet worked, patching and doing small repairs. "Time for a refuel," he called.

"Almost done," Sam called back. The drone he worked on vented in relief. Wheelie waited while he finished the last patch. "Remember Glit put you on light duty for a week," he said. The drone nodded and thanked him before leaving.

After the breeding fiasco, Wheelie seriously feared for Sam's sanity, but the Master's human pet showed no more signs of sudden violent outbursts. Whatever he talked to the Master about, it calmed him down considerably.

When first given the job, Wheelie thought his assignment as support to the elder Witwicky seemed more of an insult than anything else. He was a Cybertronian! He possessed a spark, even if the larger ones only saw him as a drone. Why did he have to serve a lousy organic? But he knew who got the blame if anything happened to one of the Master's pets. When the former pet died, the drone assigned to Ben was sent to the Moon, one of the worst punishment assignments. Before he left, he said the Moon couldn't be worse than looking after Ben. Wheelie appeared for his first day sullen.

That lasted until he met the new pets. Fresh from living in the wild, neither expected Wheelie to provide the kind of personal service Ben demanded. Ronald took his job as the Master's human contact with the other humans seriously, earning Wheelie's respect. But Wheelie would have endured someone as irritating as Ben if that got him time with Sam. The younger Witwicky charmed most Cybertronians he met, from the Master down to Brains. Even Soundwave was fond of the child.

He watched as the sparkling grew to a youngling and became Glit's apprentice, showing a genius for finding the glitched area and for soothing his patients- even Hook called him in for some trauma cases. He watched as Sam grew from a sparkling not much bigger than Wheelie to a youth slightly taller than Ron. He and Brains knew Sam better than anyone but his sire. To the larger Decepticons Sam maintained the innocence naiveté of a youngling. Wheelie knew a brilliant mind lay behind those glyphed eyes. He saw how Sam influenced the Decepticon leader, in minute but measurable degrees.

Wheelie began as a resentful guard for Megatron's pets; now he served the All-Spark touched healer with pride.

He rolled over with the meal. "That smells great, Wheelie, thanks," Sam said and started eating. Glit finished his repair. As the medbay remained temporarily empty, the medic fetched himself some energon and sat by Sam. At one point Sam seemed to stare at one of the large pieces of machinery against the wall, but when Wheelie looked, he didn't see anything.

Frenzy came in then, followed by Rumble. Sam pulled his plate off the table and put it in his lap. "What are you two doing here?" the medic demanded. "Get out of my medbay unless you're hurt."

"Soundwave said to make sure you're refueling," Frenzy said. "Hey, brat, you get bred yet?" He and his twin flopped down beside Glit, rocking the table. Glit rescued his energon. Sam kept eating.

"I was refueling until you tried to spill my energon," Glit complained, "and that's none of your business."

"Is too," Rumble argued. "We recommended the girl." He poked at Sam's leg, fortunately missing. "The other males your age sure liked her."

"I didn't," Sam told them. Finishing his meal, he slipped off his chair and walked over to Wheelie to hand him the plate, circling away from the obnoxious brothers." She was a nasty bitch," he went on, and drank from the water flask he kept with him. "She acted too much like you. I would've tried anyway, but she didn't know what to do any more than I did."

"Picky!" Frenzy said, as Sam started restocking his supplies, moving around the familiar medbay and checking for the right items by feel, "What do you want in a mate?"

"A kind woman with a nice voice," Sam replied. "One that knows what she's doing. I can't see her so I don't care what she looks like."

"Heard you were in a fight," Rumble said. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sam said. Wheelie tensed and looked at Glit, who shook his head as he watched Sam.

"Coward," Frenzy sneered. Rumble laughed.

"Scrap yes," Sam agreed. "I don't like noise and killing and getting hurt. It took me a month to heal that broken arm. And see how much you'd like a fight if your optics were glitched like mine are." Wheelie vented. No outburst, just the normal bantering with the rough Cassetticons.

Glit said angrily. "I just refueled, and if you don't get out, I'm telling Soundwave you're trying to bully the Master's pet again." That got them out of the medbay, grumbling. "They're trying to get out of something," he added with disgust, and went to help Sam. For a time they worked together, enjoying a moment of quiet. "Sam, a question. If you could have anything in the world you wanted, what would you ask for?"

"An end to this glitched war, with my people and my world intact." Sam said simply.

"Let's narrow the field to possibilities," Glit said dryly, only to be interrupted by Ravage. Glit took a listening pose. "Wheelie, message from my creator. Get Sam ready to meet an important visitor. And the Fallen is dead."

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Did he say who the visitor was?"

"No, and that's not for you to question," Glit told him sternly. "Go on now."

TRtR

All the Autobots gathered to watch Optimus drive the Matrix into Sentinel Prime's chest and revive him. The initial beauty of the moment died when Sentinel threw Optimus to the floor and threatened him with his sword before he completely woke. The moment they heard about the Space Bridge, everyone forgave him. Optimus put the new technology under constant guard, and assigned Ironhide as Sentinel's bodyguard.

Bumblebee wavered. In Sentinel's presence, he felt the charisma, as strong as or stronger than Optimus'. Away from him, he recognized the arrogance that drove so many to the Decepticons. Sentinel expected instant obedience to each and every order, due to his position of Prime. He didn't believe in his superiority, he  _knew_  he was better than everyone else up to and including Optimus.

Hound and Beachcomber introduced the new Prime to the humans. Afterward, he caught sight of a troubled Beachcomber in the hall and commed him, asking what happened. The organic-loving mech glanced around. "Not here," he said, and motioned him to the human's meeting room. "He grilled Ron about how Megatron ran Earth, how he trained the humans and how many humans there live there now. " He leaned against the balcony. "Then he said, 'Limited but acceptable,' when we left. I commed Ironhide, but he didn't understand either. Told me not to question the Prime, like he's Primus and can't make mistakes." Beachcomber hissed in exasperation. "If that were true, the war would've ended a long time ago!"

Bumblebee found Ron in the growing room and asked via the datapad what he thought of Sentinel. Ron considered as he picked beans and dug potatoes. "I don't like him," he said abruptly. "He reminds me too much of Megatron. " Bumblebee asked how. "Like we're stupid but useful animals," Ron spat furiously and marched out of the room with his baskets as Bumblebee watched in shock.

The scout reported for his turn to guard the space bridge pillars with his processor in turmoil. He was certain of his suspicions now, but when he started to speak to Jazz, the third in command said, "That's enough. Don't mention the matter again, not to anyone, do you hear?" The yellow scout wilted and slunk away, but his resolution hardened, and for the first time in his life, he took matters into his own servos and went to see Jetfire after making a few adjustments in the storage area. No one noticed.

Jetfire listened to him. "I don't know," he said doubtfully. "I hate Sentinel and everything he stood for, but a Prime? " His voice hardened. "And one thing we agree on. The Fallen has to die."

When Sentinel disappeared with Jetfire, Ironhide cursed and ranted for hours. "That two-faced double agent! Never trust a Seeker!" Bumblebee said nothing. He knew where they went.

Optimus dispatched Bumblebee, Mirage, and Hound to Earth with orders to listen for rumors of the missing Prime. Mirage took the Decepticon headquarters, while Hound chose the main supply depot and Bumblebee opted for the largest transportation hub.

The drones and mechs hummed with two different sets of news. The first shocked Bumblebee to his core- the Fallen and three other mechs on the Nemesis died of an attack of Cosmic Rust, and no one knew how. The other gossip revolved around the reason for a new supply/transport hub in the middle of the North American plains. With some effort, Bumblebee's alt form slipped into the convoy to be loaded with boxes the size and shape of Sentinal Prime's Space Bridge pillars. He delivered his load like all the others, and left like all the others. Then he slipped away and contacted his fellow scouts and Silverbolt.

Mirage slipped in and got to the supply computer. The next day, Bumblebee, Mirage, and Hound reported for duty, disguised as Decepticons by Hound's illusion. An irate Scrapper assigned them to load the boxes of 'spare parts' into Silverblade, also disguised as a routine transport shuttle. "What's the point in bringing them here only to send them to the Moon?" he complained.

"Be quick," Hound commed all of them, "and for Primus' sake stay close to me or I might slip!" Fortunately, the Constructicon left, and no one noticed the few slips in Hound's illusions. The last box went in, and Silverbolt took off as the scouts scattered. "Primus, I'm glad that's over," he commed, dropping the illusions on all of them but Silverbolt as soon as they transformed into their alt modes. "Silverbolt, I can only hold this so far-get ready to bolt if you're spotted!"

An hour later, the shuttle contacted them that he was safely on his way. "I'll be back as soon as I get these to Optimus," he commed them. "Be careful!"

Bumblebee headed back to the transport hub. He picked up some useful information, but nothing regarding Sentinel. Instead, he picked up signs of suspicion, not so much directed at him but at everyone, as rumors of a major theft made the rounds. He got out just before the security blocks and searches began. He found Silverbolt and to his relief realized he was the last in. "Thank Primus," Silverbolt said, relief evident over the com. "Get your aft in here, we have to leave now. " He was moving the moment the scout stepped inside. Making his way to his usual seat, he discovered the reason for the hurry. Jetfire lay strapped to the floor, deep in recharge. Mirage looked awful, as though he was about to fall into recharge any moment himself. In the human's safety box , Sam sat in his seat, strapped in and ready to go. Despite being dressed in beautiful clothes of red and grey, he saw huddled into his seat, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. Two drones were strapped down in another mech seat, both in stasis.

"You remember that ally Sam warned us about?" Mirage asked. Sam straightened and looked at the yellow scout. "It was Sentinel. He's gone mad."

"He didn't just betray us," Hound said, his face twisted with pain. "He turned on Megatron as well. What's left of him is in the cargo hold."

 


	8. Explainations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam stops pretending

En route to the Autobot base, the scouts and Jetfire reported directly to Optimus on a private line. As a result, the Prime met them at the shuttle bay and swept Sam up in his hands. He gave a few terse orders regarding Megatron's body, commended all of them, and disappeared with the young human into his office. Every Autobot not on duty surrounded the rest of the party and swept them into the rec room. When the two drones howled, afraid of being crushed, Jetfire snatched them up.

"All right, talk," Jazz demanded as soon as they all had their energon. "First we hear that you and Sentinel killed the Fallen. Then we hear that Sentinel's gone Decepticon. Silverbolt shows up first with all those boxes of spare parts, takes off again, and then you all come back with Megatron in the cargo hold, dead! What happened? "He pointed at Jetfire. "Optimus gave us the bare outline, but I want to hear it from you. Seeker, you start with why you left with Sentinel."

"It's no secret I never liked Sentinel," Jetfire said bluntly, "but he talked me into going after the Fallen. " He looked at the scouts. "I hoped to get in, do it, and get out, but I decided that if killing the Fallen meant I had to die, it was worth it."

They all murmured at the hate in his voice. "So what happened?" Ironhide asked.

"We popped up just outside his door. I went in. He almost didn't know me. We fought, and he came close to killing me again. For a time I thought Sentinel would let me die, but he finally came in. The Prime killed the Fallen with one shot." Jetfire paused. "Of Cosmic Rust."

Ironhide's yell of outrage led the uproar. The old warrior finally quieted when both Jazz and Prowl shouted him down. With a semblance of order restored, Hound said, "Mirage and I saw him use it, too." Bumblebee hated seeing the old warrior sag in terrible disappointment.

"Megatron walked in as the last of the Fallen fell into tiny pieces," Jetifire went on. "He only asked where the space bridge was. Sentinel said he had it with him. "Sounds of dismay rippled through the rec room. Prowl got up, but Bumblebee sent him a private message and he settled down again. "I had no idea. I tagged behind Megatron as Blast Off brought the Prime. We landed at a set of warehouses in the middle of nowhere. I heard Megatron saying that the rest of the pillars for the space bridge got stored there. He told me I could stay, but to keep back. " He looked over at the scouts.

Mirage said, "I tracked down Sam in the medbay. I know he saw me, but he didn't say anything. Ravage came for him, and I followed while they," he indicated the drones, "got him ready."

"We got orders to make sure Sam looked his best, for an important visitor," Wheelie said. "We didn't know who it was. " He sipped at the energon Bumblebee brought him, using both hands to hold the cube.

"Sam must have guessed," Brains added. "He didn't argue like he usually does." Brains took the cube from Wheelie and gulped at it.

"Anyway, I followed and saw Megatron come for Sam and put him on a table in a courtyard there. It was a bright day, and Sam had his visor on. Sentinel asked where the rest of the space bridge was. "

"I was in the warehouse. Scrapper and the other Constructicons argued over who was going to tell Megatron that those parts got sent to the Moon, when he came in and overheard them. It wasn't pretty," Hound said.

"Where on the Moon are they?" Prowl asked intently.

"Nowhere. They're in our stores, labeled spare parts," Bumblebee sent, and Jazz choked on his energon while everyone cheered. "That's what Silverbolt brought before he came back for us."

"So while Megatron's gone, Sentinel tells Sam to take off his visor. Sam did, and looked up. " Mirage paused, and played a hologram.

_Sam stood on the elaborately carved stone table, his eyes uncovered, staring at Sentinel's chassis. The two stood alone. "Prime," he stated._

_"Chosen one," Sentinel responded. "How did you get the glyphs? And look up at me."_

_"I was born with them," Sam explained. "I'm almost completely blind because of it. I only see shapes and energy. " He replaced the visor._

_"Yet I'm told you revived Optimus with the Matrix. How ironic, for Megatron to keep the human Prime as a pet. "Sentinel looked toward the warehouse. "When the Space Bridge is established, that will change. As the human Prime, you will work with me."_

Murmurs ran through the room at the idea of a human being called a Prime, and Mirage froze the hologram. Beachcomber said, "So Sam goes from being Megatron's pet to being Sentinel's? Where's the difference?" Everyone hushed him, and Mirage continued.

_"I'm not a Prime," the human said. "Megatron's always taken good care of me. If I went to the human section, I'd be dead by now. Flawed humans don't survive. " He began to stroll, moving away from the Prime._

" _Only a Prime can handle the Matrix," Sentinel said. "You revived Optimus with it, and therefore you must be a Prime. As the human Prime, you must work with me."_

" _Megatron will never agree."_

" _Once I have the space bridge established, I will take care of Megatron, and you will find the Cube for me. " Sam's face turned grim._

" _Are you going to end this war?" Sentinel turned to look at him. Megatron emerged from the warehouse. He approached and stopped where Sentinel would have to turn completely around to see him, and listened to the conversation. "Bring the sides together? Because until the war ends, you're wasting your time. Cybertron can't be rebuilt in the middle of a war."_

"He makes it sound so simple," Jazz grumbled.

"That doesn't make him wrong," First Aid interjected quietly.

_"I agree. Do you know what was in the Fallen's lair?"_

_Sam shook his head. "Megatron kept me from the Fallen. That's why I went to Optimus in the first place, to protect me from Megatronus Prime. My master and I knew it would happen someday, but we both hoped I would be older."_

_"He is no longer your master. You will work with me now. The Fallen had hatchlings." Sentinel looked upward, and his optics looked at nothing as he remembered. Sam looked behind him at Megatron for a moment only, before returning his attention to the Prime before him. "Waiting to be activated, full of potential. That is the future of our race. Those, and the ones we can bring from the Cube. The rest need careful culling after I build the bridge –"_

There was a break in the hologram. "I didn't hear what else he said, because Jetfire contacted me on a way to get Sam out. " He broke off at a moan from Ironhide.

"He called the Fallen Megatronus Prime," Sideswipe murmured. "Is he hinting at what I think he is?"

Hound said, "By that time I was out of the warehouse and watching. " He looked at Mirage, and lifted his hand. His projection came from a different side. Jetfire was in the background, with the two drones. Sam was at the edge of the table; Sentinel still faced him, with Megatron behind him. The audience could see that Megatron held his temper by the closest margins.

_"Did Optimus offer you the Matrix?" Sam asked._

_Sentinel turned back to Sam. "How did you know that?"_

_"It's something Optimus would do." Sam kept strolling, always moving a little back. "Why didn't you take it?"_

" _How do you know I didn't?" the Prime asked, intent on Sam now._

" _I would see it. " Sam's foot touched the fancywork at the edge of the table and he stopped. "I would feel it. At Petra, I died, like Optimus."_

Hound stopped the hologram as a chorus of "What?" went through the room. Bumblebee jerked in surprise, but he remembered that Sam went through the cracked wall alone while the battle raged. The hologram restarted when the room quieted again.

" _You are in good condition for a corpse," Sentinel pointed out._

"  _I spoke to the Ancient Primes," the human went on, ignoring the jibe. "They told me the Matrix has to be earned, to take it and revive Optimus. And they told me why I was created. I woke to find the Matrix in my hand, glowing." He looked up at the Prime's chassis. "The Matrix_ rejected  _you. My master freed himself from one Fallen only to ally himself with another. "_

Quiet filled the room. Then Prowl asked, "What happened to Megatron?"

"He stomped up, getting Sentinel's attention," Mirage said. "While Sentinel and Sam were talking, I moved up to the table behind Sam. Megatron told Sentinel about the problem, and after they argued for a while, he agreed to open a bridge to the Moon with the five pillars he had. But when he opened the boxes, they only held spare struts from the medical supplies."

"That's where those went!" Ratchet said.

"Megatron called Sentinel useless, and Sentinel almost got him with the rust gun," Hound said. "He came close to getting me, too, and I moved, trying to get to Sam. Then Sam disappeared, and I heard from Mirage to meet him in the warehouse. Jetfire warped out. I moved as fast as I could without giving myself away. The Constructions ran past me, trying to help Megatron, and he got Mixmaster before they could form Devastator. "

"Megatron yelled at us to get Sam to Optimus," Jetfire said. "I took them to Silverbolt and went back. When I got back, Megatron was down, and Sentinel was gone. I got him to Silverbolt, too. "

"Why?" Ironhide asked.

"Because we can't beat Sentinel without him," Jetfire said bluntly. "We can't rebuild Cybertron without him. He can control the Decepticons. Most of the Decepticons hate Sentinel. He stood for everything they hated about the Senate and the upper class. Soundwave for one would rather work with Optimus before he'll have anything to do with Sentinel. So will Strika. "

"And Strika leads the forces on Cybertron now," Jazz said thoughtfully.

"But where are the space bridge pillars?" Prowl asked. He stood up and headed out. "We have to find them."

"Still in the storage room," Bumblebee sent to everyone. Prowl whipped around and stared at him. "We put them in storage boxes so anyone trying to steal them would be slowed down, remember? I just switched the boxes out and moved them. "

"Good for you. I should have listened to you," Jazz said. "Optimus did, but he wanted to give Sentinel a chance. "

"He knew," Bumblebee sent. "He just didn't know who moved them, so he moved them again, but they're still on the base. "

TRTR

Optimus placed Sam on his desk. "Before I can plan any further, we need to talk," he said. "No more secrets, Sam. No more need to hint and maneuver. Talk to me. "

Sam took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to start?"

"You told Evie that the Cube was where you were made, and Ron is the only one who knows where it is. Ron told Bumblebee you were his miracle baby, but he did not remember seeing the Cube where you were conceived. "

"Dad wouldn't know the Cube from any other square rock if he stepped on it. " Sam began to pace. "What I remember is my mother talking about the blue light in the caverns they were hiding in."

"Ah!" Optimus nodded. That did indicate the Cube, but it was not definitive. "What else?"

"Both of my parents got the contraceptive shot," Sam said. "I looked up the statistics once. Never, never once, has a child been conceived after both parents had the contraceptive shot, without an antidote-never in the last eighty years, four generations of humans long. But my mother desperately wanted a child. Mom and Dad stayed in that cavern for about a month, because it had the blue light, but they had to leave because they felt tremors and it scared them. Not too long afterward, the cavern fell in. "

"So you deduce from the glyphs in your eyes and this information that the Cube created you." Sam shook his head and started to move restlessly back and forth. "Do you need to void?"

"What?" Sam asked blankly. "Oh. No, I think better sometimes when I move. "Optimus placed his arms in a protective circle around the area Sam paced. "No. You've seen the glyphs I drew." The Prime nodded. "Those are the product of information overflow. I've gotten flashes of information like that all my life. " He smiled grimly. "I always knew what the glyphs meant. Everyone just assumed I didn't. Not even Soundwave bothered to check, back when he could still hear my thoughts. I always knew when he read me, and he heard only what I wanted him to, until I learned to block him completely. I've always understood Cybertronian, too. "

"Downloads," Optimus said slowly. "How-"

"The Ancient Primes," Sam told him, turning to look at Optimus. "I understood when I saw them. But for that, I had to do what you did. "

"Die," Optimus stated, and listened as Sam related the same story he told Megatron. "I saw the Ancients, too. They told me I earned the right to use the Matrix, not because I was born to be Prime, but because I realized the potential of all Primes. "

"Which Sentinel did not. I know he was your mentor, Optimus, and I'm sorry, but if he ever believed in the values he taught you, he abandoned them when he made his deal with Megatron. "

"I knew something was wrong when he refused the Matrix-"

"It refused him," Sam corrected.

"-but I hoped to be wrong, because Sentinel is still a Prime and a powerful ally. Now he is a powerful enemy. He will come after the space bridge, and he will have the Decepticons behind him."

"Not all of them," Sam said. "Megatron controlled the Decepticons, Optimus. I supported him because, bad as he was, matters on Earth would have been much worse without him. He wants-" he stopped, and for a moment grief splashed over his face. Recovering, he went on, "He wanted Cybertron rebuilt, and he took the long view, stockpiling materials and training humans. He intended to kill the Fallen as soon as he could. He wanted to rule after he rebuilt. I'm sure he intended to kill Sentinel once he had the space bridge. But when I was with him, he got better. "

"We did see that," Optimus agreed. "What are you, Sam? You say you were created, but how?"

Sam thought. "I am not a Prime," he said. "I'm more of a human-Cybertronian liaison. " He straightened, and his voice grew firm and determined. "Until now, that meant working with Megatron, being his pet, soothing him when the Fallen twisted him, entertaining him with my naïve comments and listening to his stories and desperately needing his protection. All of that started bringing back the Lord Protector, instead of the Decepticon leader. It meant charming the leading Decepticons, repairing them and getting them to see humans as people and not animals. Not equals, but still as sentient people." He stood straight, determination radiating from him. " No longer. The time for being a pet is gone."

"So I see." Optimus suspected for some time the naïve pet was a façade, but he still marveled at the change in the human. This was no longer a pet, nor a youngling. "And your goal?"

"I want my people and my world to survive and become independent again. "He looked into Optimus' chassis, where the Matrix glowed. "The first step was the death of the Fallen and the Matrix going into the hands of someone who will not use it to destroy our Sun. As you are the only one who can use the Matrix now, I think we've achieved that. " He lifted one finger.

"You may safely assume that," Optimus agreed, intrigued.

"The second was for my people to have the education and leaders to become independent. That's in place, due to Megatron's intent to use humans to rebuild Cybertron." He lifted the second finger.

"And next?"

"I have to get the Cube off my world, but it won't let me find it until the war is over. " He began to pace again. "I hoped Sentinel would start that solution by being the leader for both factions."

"I hoped he would help end the war, as well," Optimus sighed.

"He will, just not the way we hoped. He can coerce a lot of the Decepticons into following him, but not all by any means, and they 'll desert him the instant Megatron reappears. You have to bring my former master back, Optimus. Sentinel is giving both of you a reason to work together. "

"I cannot see how that is possible. There is too much hate, Sam."

"If you don't, everyone in this solar system is going to die. Sentinel is insane. He intends to bring Cybertron here with the Space Bridge when he gets it, and we both know that will tear both worlds apart."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If a planet was brought into the solar system close enough to be easily seen by a human eye, the consequences would be devastating to both worlds. That's simple physics, Mr. Bay.


	9. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matters come to a head, and then explode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers except in some very wistful daydreams.

Megatron felt nothing.

He wondered how he could process. He remembered the fight with Sentinel, after hearing that remarkable conversation between his pet and the Prime. He marveled at Sam's brilliant manipulation. In that one conversation, the boy caused Sentinel to reveal all of his plans-and his insanity.

The Decepticon leader understood why Sentinel came out of stasis with his processors warped. Was this the Pit? He remembered all the stories of eternal pain, and how he scornfully rejected them as lies to keep the masses in line. He wished now those legends remained accurate. Pain was better than this overwhelming nothingness.

He believed that when a being died, they ended. He regarded both Cybertronian and human religions as equally foolish. He believed only in what he could see and experience. Not even the Fallen's belief in Unicron and total destruction shook his certainty. His atheism enabled him to crush the destructive religions of the humans and encourage the peaceful ones, making the organics easier to handle, and to deal with the Fallen and his warped vision of destruction. He knew that the Primes, including Optimus, possessed some kind of leadership ability that he desperately envied, but he rejected without question that such ability came from Primus. He saw the Matrix and the Cube as containers of power, to be used and manipulated as needed. He convinced himself that the Prime inherited the ability to handle the Matrix in some way.

Now, awash in nothingness, he saw that from the time he found the last of his Witwickys, Sam proved all his beliefs wrong.

Sam, his pet, born to his lost Witwicky descendent, human to the last degree, possessed glyphs in his eyes proclaiming him as the chosen one of the All-Spark. Sam, a human child, who could sooth him after meeting the Fallen and without a word, show him how the Fallen consistently twisted and manipulated him. Sam, the Decepticon favorite, who Sentinel recognized as a human Prime, acknowledged by everyone as the only one who could find the All-Spark, from the Fallen to Sentinel Prime . Sam used the Matrix to revive Optimus Prime. How long has he been manipulating me and I never noticed? Megatron wondered.

Optimus used the Matrix to bring back his mentor and unknown betrayer, just as Megatron wanted. How long did Sentinel Prime lay in this nothingness? When they talked on Cybertron, Megatron believed Sentinel would create a space bridge, connecting Cybertron and the planet with the resources they needed, both workers and materials. All his plans revolved around that technology. With Sentinel and the bridge, he could defeat and absorb the Autobots and rebuild Cybertron under his rule, and use Earth as his stepping stone to an empire.

While he hated Sentinel as much or more than he hated the Fallen, Megatron intended to deal with him as long as it took. They shared the same vision, a renewed and thriving Cybertron. Never did he consider that Sentinel would emerge insane. But no matter how brilliant Sentinel remained, bringing Cybertron in this sun's orbit could only cause massive loss of life and destruction.

Bitterness swamped him. Sam was right. Optimus was right. Only in peace could Cybertron be rebuilt. The injustices and warped social structure he rebelled against no longer existed. Megatron decided that the legends he scorned never lied. The Pit held him. There existed no worse punishment than floating in this void, aware that he failed, and in his failure destroyed both his worlds.

TRTR

At the Autobot base, a meeting including Sam, Ron, the drones, Jetfire and the scouts hammered out a plan. Ron and the drones identified the human leaders and supervisors most likely to listen. Sam's intimate knowledge of the Decepticons guided the strategy.

The scouts slipped into Earth with Ron Witwicky and the drones. Getting to Earth became easier; Megatron's death spawned chaos. They took full advantage. While Sentinel bludgeoned his way back to a shaky control, the scouts, Ron, and the drones circulated. The drones made arrangements, and while Ron met with receptive human leaders, the scouts talked to the supervisors. Word spread. Jetfire stayed near Silverbolt, ready to yank out anyone in trouble.

Over and over, Bumblebee heard, "I don't trust that glitch of a Prime, but if he can bridge us to Cybertron so we can rebuild…" Over and over, he played the conversation between Sam and Sentinel. After seeing the hologram, he made the offer Sam and Optimus hammered out, beginning with, "Work with us. If the war ends, we can find the All-Spark and rebuild Cybertron, with or without the space bridge."

"What about the humans?" some asked. "There aren't enough of us. We need them."

"Sam knows that and he will work with your humans leaders. In return for help from chosen Cybertronians and the technology we used, they'll rotate trained humans to work for us. Then we can leave Earth to the humans."

For weeks they travelled, as did Mirage, with Wheelie, and Hound, with Brains. But one contact soured. Bumblebee managed to get work to the others before he was overwhelmed.

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus contacted Ultra Magnus, who arranged contact with his Decepticon counterpart, Strika. While Optimus was in the room, Jetfire and Sam conducted the negotiations. In the background lay Megatron's body, still damaged. Strika's optics strayed to it constantly. Clearly, she cared about only two matters. "I hate Optimus Prime," she said bluntly. "But if he's got the Matrix of Leadership, he's more of a Prime than that glitch Sentinel ever was. He was a fool to revive him."

"Megatron wanted Sentinel revived," Sam reminded her. "He sent me to Optimus to get the Matrix and revive Sentinel so Sentinel could set up the space bridge and we could conquer and rebuild Cybertron. Megatron entrusted you to fight on Cybertron so he could gather materials on Earth, train the humans, and get the space bridge to rebuild Cybertron. " He paused.

"He never said his ally was Sentinel," she snapped. Jetfire played the holoform for her. Strika watched. "I want my revenge," she said. "I want the All-Spark, here on Cybertron."

"The All-Spark will not allow itself to be found until the war is over," Sam told her. "And I will not bring life to Cybertron at the expense of my people and my planet. Besides, if Sentinel uses the bridge to bring Cybertron to this solar system, how many of you will survive?"

"We'll leave," she said.

"And go where?" Jetfire asked her. "Earth, on the other side of the bridge?"

Silence followed that challenge. Most of the Decepticon forces resided around Earth or Cybertron, while the Autobot bases outside of Cybertron existed on spaceships similar to the  _Ark_  and other bases in space. Stika had nowhere to go. "I am not telling you I will never find the Cube," Sam said, after the quiet stretched for some time. "I am not telling you that the dream of rebuilding Cybertron is dead."

"What are you telling me, then?" she asked. Behind her, Optimus could see other Decepticons, watching. With some surprise, he realized that all the years of seeing Sam on Megatron's desk, combined with Sentinel's declaration of Sam as the human Prime, gave the former pet an authority he never guessed at.

"I am telling you that as long as there is a war, Cybertron cannot be rebuilt. I am telling you that I will not allow my world and my people to be enslaved for your recovery. I can tell you that Cybertron will not go back to what it was. I can tell you that when this war is over, I will find the Cube and hand it over to Optimus Prime. I can tell you that in exchange for help transitioning to self-rule and sharing technology, humans will help rebuild Cybertron using the materials stockpiled for that purpose. "

"What right do you have to dictate to me, boy?" she snarled.

"Look at my eyes and ask me that again **.** _Your_ Cube,  _your_  founding Primes, and  _your_  Matrix forced that right on me. Without me there is no Cube, no All-Spark, and no rebirth. " He gave them time to absorb that information. "There is no Senate left, no nobility; nothing is left that birthed the Decepticon cause in the first place. You can start fresh, giving everyone an equal status and a fair start at a new life." He directed that more toward the Decepticons behind her, and the Prime saw that idea gain approving nods and whispers between them. Srika simmered.

Optimus knew Strika expected to stand as Megatron's leading general once the building of an empire began. With Megatron's death, that dream was gone. She was a leader, but she possessed neither the desire nor the ability to stand in Megatron's place. "I want my revenge," she said at last. "I want Cybertron rebuilt. " Behind her, a murmur of agreement rose. "What do you want me to do?"

In a lab built on the far side of the asteroid, Wheeljack and Perceptor leaned over the control pillar. "Nothing works," Wheeljack sighed. "All this work and we can't get past that one glitched control!"

"Get some rest," Optimus said. "If you go into stasis from lack of rest and energon you can't get anything done." They placed the pillar in its container and began the trek to the main base. "We've made the other delivery."

"We just hoped to get past Sentinel's blocks on activation," Perceptor sighed. "But the Prime is so brilliant. How come the brilliant ones tend to get twisted?" Optimus thought of the Fallen. Like most primes, Sentinel had a high opinion of himself, and the Senate manipulated his pride mercilessly. Sentinel's arrogance and his refusal to admit any fault or implement any changes drove Megatron to the Fallen, and contributed in a large part to the war.

When they reached the main base, he sent the two scientists to the rec room for energon. As he put away the pillar, he received a tight communication from Blaster. "Optimus, we've got a problem. Jetfire just showed up. "

"From where?" Optimus asked, heading for the communication center. "Is Silverbolt on his way?"

"No, he jumped from Earth. Before he collapsed, he told Prowl that Sentinel's on his way, with a fleet. "Optimus stopped, vented deeply, and headed for his office instead. Prowl stood by the door, his expression grim. Sam sat on his shoulder.

"I spoke to Jetfire briefly," Prowl said as soon as the door closed. "Jazz and I almost carried him to the infirmary as he commed us the databurst. " He placed Sam on the table. "Sam was in the infirmary talking to Ratchet, so I brought him with me. We don't have much time." On the word, Blaster contacted them again.

"Ships showing on the screen," he said tightly. "A lot." A moment later, the announcement sounded, "Battle stations, all personnel, battle stations."

"How long can we hold out?" Optimus asked Prowl. As though in answer, the room shook with the rumble of shells. They fired back, but Sentinel remained on the base long enough to know the weak points. The heavy shelling stopped within a few hours before an announcement sound throughout the base from Sentinel. "Optimus Prime, you will surrender yourself to me, with Sam, Jetfire, the body of Megatron, and the space bridge, or I will destroy this asteroid in its entirety. Sam, I have your father and Bumblebee. You have two hours."

Enveloped in restraints and unable to move from the neck down, Optimus watched the asteroid recede from the bridge of Sentinel's command ship. Sentinel held Sam inside his life support bubble. Jetfire lay in the brig in stasis "Why Megatron's body? Why Jetfire?" Sam asked.

"Many questioned Megatron's death when his body disappeared and Jetifre, while useful, could be a problem until the bridge is established," Sentinel stated. He looked at Sam. "You will find the Cube for me," he stated, "as soon as your father locates it. He is waiting for you."

The blank mask slipped off Sam's face to show his horror for a short moment and Optimus' spark clenched in sympathy. "Take him to his quarters," Sentinel commanded, handing the bubble to Soundwave. "I am disappointed in you, Optimus. I am your senior, and you defy me."

"You arranged to betray the Autobot cause when you allied with Megatron," Optimus pointed out, struggling to remain calm.

"Megatron is dead. I control the Decepticons now. Once the space bridge is set up, this war will end and Cybertron will be rebuilt under my rule. I expect you to lead the Autobots in my support. " Sentinel kept talking, outlining his plans, and Optimus listened, hearing the madness more and more as Sentinel spoke of rebuilding the society that failed, with the addition of humans as a labor force.

He wondered why Soundwave and Starscream cooperated with this insanity, and received his answer in a tight tendril of thought from the telepath. Sentinel used the Moon base for hostages. There he held Frenzy in stasis, along with Thundercracker, Onslaught, and others. Only a Prime, he told them, could get into the base without initialing a destruct sequence. Soundwave supervised the loading of Megatron's body, and the Prime, waiting his turn, observed as the telepath's optics rested on the repairs. Optimus relaxed, allowing the telepath to touch his tentatively formed plans. The telepath approved and withdrew with the promise to reveal nothing.

Some weeks later, Optimus stood in a huge grassy plain. Nearby, Megatron's body stood propped against a platform where Sam stood dressed in Sentinel's colors of silver and red. The remaining Constructicons, without Hook, manned the equipment that would broadcast the formation of the bridge to all of Earth. Soundwave stood by Optimus. Jetfire remained in stasis in the command compound; Sentinel wanted no last minute rescues.

Optimus prayed as he never prayed before while Sentinel prepared the control pillar. The rest were set up all over Earth. Sentinel looked over as the bridge began to hum. "The war ends today and Cybertron begins a new age of rebirth," he proclaimed. Beside him, the pillar glowed.

Through an opening into air charged Strika and Ultra Magnus, converging on Sentinel Prime, and chaos erupted. Soundwave released Optimus as Sam jumped into Megatron with blue glowing in his hand. "Traitor!" Sentinel shrieked. "All of you will pay for this! Your cassettes are dead! "

The guards on the brig gathered around the broadcast as ordered. They did not hear the sound of the space bridge from Jetfire's cell. A group appeared on the Moon by Silverbolt, who waited for them. Jetfire appeared with the hostages, as many as he could handle at a time. They took off just as the station exploded. "Frenzy, Rumble, here!" Jetfire commanded, and they were gone.

In the nothingness, a voice. "You have a second chance, Lord Protector. Do not waste it."

Then Megatron found himself staring at Sam, who jumped into a platform as the Decepticon leader received a databurst from Soundwave, full of grief and determination. Tentacles snatched Sam out of the way as Megatron charged his weapons and looked for an opening. He saw Sam hand Optimus the Matrix as Sentinel kept both Ultra Magnus and Strika at bay. Strika's side leaked energon and Ultra Magnus limped, barely managing to duck a shot of Cosmic Rust.

Shoving Strika out of his way, Megatron slammed Sentinel's blade down with his claw before it reached Ultra Magnus and fired. Sentinel pivoted to avoid the shot, pulling his blade loose. "I killed you once and I'll kill you again!" he roared.

"Try," Megatron hissed, and Sentinel swung. As Megatron avoided the blow, he saw the gun come up and knew he could never avoid the blast. The shot went wide as Optimus' ax slammed into the insane Prime's arm.

Then Jetfire appeared with Rumble and Frenzy on his heels. Soundwave gathered them into his cassette deck immediately even as Jetfire took Sam and backed away with Ultra Magnus and Strika. Sentinel fired at Optimus this time, but the Prime stepped in and struck the gun up this time. The blade stabbed for Optimus' spark, only to be seized by Megatron's claw again. A moment later, the arm containing the Cosmic Rust lay on the ground.

Megatron held Sentinel's arm back as the ax came down and Sentinel's head rolled, soaking the ground with energon. The two leaders faced each other over the body. Then Megatron deliberately withdrew his weapons and held out his hand. Optimus did the same.

"This war is over," Megatron said.

"Agreed."

 


	10. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With peace declared, negotiation begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers. (sigh)

Megatron was annoyed.

While Megatron experienced the nothingness (the thought of it still made him flinch inside), Sentinel confronted the Decepticons who opposed him and either drove them away or killed them. When they gathered in the largest meeting room, Soundwave explained, "Used to following strongest. Sentinel killed Megatron, meaning he was strongest. "

"Like you?" Megatron challenged.

"No," Soundwave stated. "Protested, Frenzy and Rumble taken. Glit, almost taken. " When Sentinel tried to take Onslaught, the Combaticons attacked in force and formed Bruticus, and all of them died with one well aimed blast of Cosmic Rust before anyone else appeared. After that demonstration, the rank and file fell into line. Anyone with hostages cooperated. Soundwave continued," Aware, Sentinel, insane after Glit threatened. Original intention: destroy Space Bridge before activation. " The room grew quiet when he said that in his emotionless voice. Soundwave, even with the help of all of his cassettes, stood very little chance against Sentinel. Without his best fighting cassettes, the attempt was suicide. "Prime's plan: much better. No success, help in attack if necessary."

Every single Decepticon witnessed Sam, whom Sentinel referred to as the human Prime, wield the Matrix to wake their leader, before giving it to Optimus Prime. They saw Optimus Prime execute the symbol of their oppression, stopping Sentinel before he destroyed their haven and their home world. Those who wanted nothing more than an end to the fighting cheered. Those that loved to fight or who dreamed of replacing the nobility sulked. They saw four of their most powerful leaders fight together, and there was no one left who dared believe he could ever outfight or outwit them.

The Decepticon leader wondered what they would think if they saw Sam purging his last few meals when he witnessed the execution.

Today, Sam stood on the meeting table, representing the humans and demonstrating just how much he learned from his former master. Ron stood by him, as Soundwave stood by Megatron and Prowl by Optimus, providing support and information. Megatron realized quickly that Ron and Sam operated as a team. Ron worked directly with the humans and Sam worked with the Cybertronians. The Decepticon leader wondered idly which job carried more difficulties. Jetfire stood as recorder and as a neutral mediator.

Megatron accepted Sam as the human representative, if reluctantly. "I knew you were All-Spark touched," he said. "I suppose it's time for you to take the normal Witwicky position."

"No," Sam said. "I stand as the Prime for humans to Cybertron. "

"Stop this foolishness immediately," Megatron snapped. "Sentinel was insane. The humans will do as I tell them, as they always have." Even as he spoke, his processor raced. He could not acknowledge Sam as a Prime. If he did, then he had to acknowledge that humans had rights to a voice at a treaty council like this one, which meant he no longer ruled them.

Both the human and the Cybertronian Primes ignored him, their attention on each other. "So you acknowledge your position as Prime?" Optimus asked.

Before Megatron could ask if Sentinel's madness was contagious, Sam nodded. He turned to his former master and explained, "That was the condition for bringing you back. I didn't want it, but they said I needed to understand that my people need me. " Megatron stared at him, floored. Were the glyphs in his eyes shining or was that just a trick of the light? He turned to his former master. "To you, they said, 'You have a second chance, Lord Protector. Do not waste it.'"

The room stood silent as Megatron and everyone else at the table absorbed that statement and its implications. "Then you represent humans," he said, accepting both of their titles and the positions that went with them. The bargaining began in earnest.

As Sam and Optimus laid out their original agreement, Megatron found much of it practical, needing only minor adjustments. However, the stalling point remained Earth's position in the new system. "I conquered this world! " Megatron stormed when Sam demanded independent rule.

"And Sentinel killed you. Then I revived you, and both Decepticons and Autobots executed Sentinel," Sam replied without any hesitation at all.

"And you threw up," Jetfire noted, making everyone laugh.

"I thought you couldn't see more than shapes without your visor," Prowl said.

"I saw the energy gushing and the spark go out," Sam told them. "It was-I'd never seen anyone killed before," he went on quietly, "and I don't want to see it again. I heal, I don't kill." There was an awkward pause. "In addition, due to the work of my father, Wheelie, Brains and the Autobot team, no one tried to come to Sentinel's aid. It took all of us working together to stop Sentinel." He looked at each of the participants in turn, ending with Megatron.

"Therefore, by your logic, Megatron, there is no longer a single ruler of Earth," Optimus said evenly. "Freedom is the right of every sentient being and humans are sentient. That is not subject to debate. Neither I nor any other Autobot will accept forced labor to rebuild Cybertron, Lord Protector, either of Cybertronians, drones, or humans." He emphasized the title.

"Cybertron needs materials and labor to rebuild, Primes" Megatron said flatly

"In exchange for Cybertronian advisors and technology, human will provide a rotating labor force to assist in rebuilding until Cybertron is self-sufficient again and allow the use of the stockpile of materials gathered for that purpose. There's enough to get the rebuilding started, "Sam stated firmly.

"The Autobots know many available resources in space," Optimus stated. "We could not access them due to the war. There are scattered pockets of neutrals in space as well. Once the word spreads that the war is over and the All-Star returned, many will venture home, and we can access those resources. "

Megatron conceded without argument the exchange of technology for the stockpiles of energon and materials from this system. After all, the more proficient the humans became in Cybertronian technology, the better work produced and the faster Cybertron would revive. "But Earth is part of Cybertron now," Megatron insisted.

"Wheelie, Brains and I spoke to many human leaders," Ron said, "and all of them accept those terms as long as they have some say in the supervisors they work with, and there's a transition to independent rule."

"Not independence," Megatron said flatly. "Earth will always need Cybertronian supervision. Humans governments were nothing but chaos before I came and without outside supervision they will only fall into chaos again."

Now, striding to his quarters, Megatron sulked because he knew Sam no longer waited for him, to listen to him rant and give him the special polish that eased the irritation of a long day. Once in his office, he pulled out a cube of high-grade and sipped, brooding over the impasse that the meeting could not get past. Megatron would not accept independent human rule of Earth. Sam would not accept anything less. Optimus said nothing, only listening to the arguments on both sides.

There was one relief. Sentinel did not have Megatron's need to oversee every detail, and delegated a great deal of the day to day management to various subordinates. Only one datapad sat on the desk. Finishing his high grade, he picked it up. To his surprise, it contained an invitation. He visited the washracks before he walked to the medbay.

He found Sam chatting with Glit, Frenzy and Rumble, with Soundwave's other cassettes nearby. The polishing materials sat on the largest berth. "I thought you were the human Prime now," Megatron said. "Isn't this beneath you?"

"I did this for Optimus yesterday," Sam told him, "so to be fair, you get a polish, too." He indicated the cassettes. "They volunteered to help."

"If you insist," Megatron said with an air of granting a favor, and all of them laughed. Glit dimmed the room so Sam could remove his visor, and the cassettes got to work. Ravage's claws teased grit out of seams and joints while Frenzy and Rumble applied polish. Lazorbeak and Buzzsaw only watched for a time and left. Glit oiled joints and did some minor repairs, and left. When the twins finished, they jumped down and exited the medbay, leaving Megatron on the berth as Sam climbed up.

The Decepticon leader vented in relief as Sam moved over him, his hands soothing. Megatron started talking during the buffing, describing his experience between being killed by Sentinel and being revived by the Matrix. The words spilled out as his tension eased. After describing the nothingness, he said, "I want Cybertron back, Sam. All this time I worked to bring Cybertron back. But I want to do it right this time. I don't want to die with my work undone. "

"Cybertron will rise and prosper again," Sam said quietly, "if all of us can work together. But without the Autobots and the humans, nothing will change. Can that happen?" Can I give up the dream of ruling Cybertron? Megatron asked himself, and knew the answer. He lost that dream when Sentinel killed him. He had his second chance, and unlike Sentinel, he would not waste it.

"Yes."

The next day, Optimus surprised them both with a compromise. "I propose that for one vorn Earth will accept Cybertronian supervision, while training humans to take the roles of supervisors and providing labor for rebuilding," the Prime said. "After that vorn, we reassess the situation. If one city is completely rebuilt and the infrastructure sufficient to provide resources for further expansion, and Earth is deemed ready for self-rule, then Earth will become an independent ally . If Cybertron is not rebuilt enough, but Earth is ready for self-rule, the humans will govern themselves but continue to accept Cybertronian advisors and provide assistance to Cybertron for another vorn, to repeat until both worlds can stand independently. "

Sam and Megatron agreed.

TRTR

"You don't have to do this now, Sam," Ron said, as they came to a stop at Boulder Canyon. "It's only been a decade. There are still a lot of Cybertronians showing up from all over. It can wait another decade if it has to."

Sam said firmly, "Come on, Dad, even Megatron's come through on every agreement. We've got only Autobots and the better neutrals or Decepticons as supervisors, and most of those are sharing leadership with a human supervisor. None of our solar system's resources are going to Cybertron now that the space mines are going. Every human who works on Cybertron comes back with some kind of new skill." He got out of Bumblebee, and Ron followed him. The sun shone down, revealing the barely human-sized opening into the earth. "Besides, we need a dam here, to make electricity and get some water to this part of the country. That can't start until I get the Cube. " The driver's side door opened and revealed Wheelie and Brains. Wheelie carried Sam's usual backpack.

"Are you sure you aren't letting that damned dinosaur Autobot get to you?" Ron asked.

Sam laughed. "'You, Human Prime, get Cube before me Grimlock eat you?'" he quoted. "Like I was the only one he tried to intimidate. He tripped Megatron with his tail and tried to take a bite out of Optimus, from what Jetfire told me."

"Well, I'm sorry if I find a bot that looks like a Tyranasourus Rex a little overwhelming," Ron grumbled. "I couldn't believe it when you told him that one, he'd choke on you, and two, the treaty terms weren't met yet. "

"He backed off, didn't he?"

The human-sized datapad hooked to Sam's wrist peeped and said, "I still can't believe that second message meant a lake created by the All-Spark." Bumblebee transformed and continued, "The way it was worded made it sound like a man-made lake. " The yellow scout acted as Sam's guardian full-time now.

"Consider the source," Sam reminded him, as he moved his visor and rubbed his eyes. "For the Ancient Primes, what else could 'Where the created lake stands, the passage is revealed to the eyes that can see,' mean?"

"I can see it just fine," Bumblebee pointed out. The drones and Ron agreed; that sullen opening gaped where anyone could see it.

Sam laughed. "It's not the opening that'll be hard to find," he said. "It's the Cube itself. That's what my eyes will see. "He turned to Ron. "Brains, Wheelie and I will keep both of you updated. There's no way of knowing how long I'll be."

"Let me go with you," Ron asked. "I've been here before." Bumblebee drew another backpack, shiny and new, from his subspace. "Brains packed it for me; it's got everything yours does."

"For Primus' sake, I've got Wheelie and Brains with me already and that's two too many! If anything happens, you need to be up here so you can help. " He looked up at Bumblebee. "It was bad enough when I put the two of you in danger as hostages for Sentinel Fallen. Do you have any idea what I went through? Me, Optimus, Soundwave, all of us scared to death wondering if Sentinel would find us out and start the killing, not even knowing if Wheeljack and Perceptor's alterations to the space bridge would work? Never again!"

Bumblebee remembered Sam racing to him when he came back from the Moon. "You saw Frenzy and Rumble when Jetfire arrived with them," he reminded the youth.

"You didn't think we'd rescue those two brats and leave Bee behind, did you?" Brains asked. "Mirage sneaked me in so I could get to the computer and find all of them," he added proudly. "With all those guards watching the broadcast, it was easy to get in and pull him out of stasis so he could warp to the Moon station and get the hostages out. We almost didn't get them all when Frenzy got too close to the door. That glitch almost got all of us when he triggered Sentinel's trap."

"How do you think we felt when we found out you died at Petra?" Ron asked.

"I'm still here," Sam replied. "You couldn't go with me there, and you can't come with me now." He went into the opening, followed by the two drones. "Just in case, Dad, look after Evie if anything happens to me." With that parting shot, Sam disappeared from view, followed shortly by the two drones.

Ron slumped. Bumblebee whistled to him and found some shade. "I couldn't believe it when Sam told Megatron he was a Prime," Ron said.

Bumblebee said, "I wish I could have seen it."

"I'm glad I did now," Ron admitted, "but at the time, I thought we were both in for it. Then Sam quoted what the Ancient Primes told him. Megatron was shocked, but after that he quit arguing. "

"We wouldn't have any kind of agreement without Sam," Bumblebee noted. "But we've got the two areas in Cybertron that are livable again, since we got the Sun Harvester fixed and harvested a sun that didn't have any life in its system. " They birthed the hatchlings in the Fallen's lair with that energon, and powered the rebuilding of the livable areas with it. The sight of Cybertronian younglings and the sight of buildings going up amid the debris of centuries gave all Cybertronians hope. A hundred thousand humans worked in Cybertron, rotating out yearly and bringing back the knowledge of technology to use on Earth. "But you're the one who figured out who'd work best on Earth. "

"Without the change in supervisors, the transition to mostly human government wouldn't be going so well," Ron agreed. "But most of the lazier Decepticon supervisors were using human leaders already. Megatron just didn't know it. We'll be more than ready for totally human rule by the end of the vorn."

"But Cybertron needs the All-Spark," Bumblebee said, looking at the hole in the ground. "It's not alive the way it needs to be." They settled down to wait.

Brains rolled behind Sam; the light of his optics, along with Wheelie's, created the only light in the tunnel once they went around a bend. Thus far, the opening into the earth stayed large enough for Sam to walk upright. Sam's visor came off as soon as they hit the shadows. "Can you feel it?" he asked. They did not, and said so. "The others couldn't feel the Matrix, either," he murmured, and moved on.

Why did Sam? Brains posed that question to Wheelie, to Glit, to Soundwave, to Bumblebee, to Ron, to Optimus in a chance private encounter, and once, greatly daring, to Megatron. He was quite surprised at the responses.

Wheelie and Megatron said the same- that Sam was All-Spark touched. Megatron added that Archibald, the Witwicky who found him, was All-Sparked touched as well, but it drove the first Witwicky insane. "We raised Sam, so he could grow into his potential," Megatron said with pride.

Brains asked Glit, not Soundwave. The medic said, "Sam is a good youngling and a useful assistant, but a human shouldn't put himself forward like he does. " As kind as Glit was, Brains reflected, as they navigated past debris on the cave floor, he never pretended to see organics as anything but inferior. At the same time, he would never hurt one deliberately.

After that conversation, Brains encountered Soundwave in the hallway. "Aware: conversation with Glit," the telepath stated. "Youngling: unusual. Some organics: compatible with All-Spark, genetic attribute, Sam one. Conclusion: youngling encountered Cube, left mark. Good for Cybertron. " Brains went about his business that day reeling from the idea of Soundwave approving of any human as more than a pet or useful slave.

Bumblebee said Sam's family line had an affinity for the All-Spark and Sam was exposed as an infant and trained from his youth. "Primus provides, and by all the old human religions, the One provides," Bumblebee sent. "Sam is here when we need him. What else do we need to know?"

That might be enough for the scout, but it wasn't enough for Brains. Optimus provided a better answer, however. "If Sam is correct, and he was conceived with the help of the All-Spark," the Prime said, "then he was born to help us end this war. Look at the timing, Brains. All of us lost our way, mired in hate, mired in old wrongs and old beliefs. Sam forced us to look at why we were fighting. Not just Megatron, all of us. "He sighed. "A lesson in pride, indeed, when an organic, and a youngling at that, points out the way to peace."

The passageway twisted and turned, going to tiny slits at some points and widening so they could walk side by side at others. When it split, Sam stopped and went still, as though he was listening for something. Then the passageway opened into a room. "Would you look at this," Wheelie marveled. Signs of human habitation-dried straw turning to dust, ashes in a sunken hole, rotting cloth- littered the place. Sam went to the straw and started digging. "Help me here," he said, and showed them where to lift. They dug their fingers in and drew out a square with glyphs. It glowed, faintly, with blue light.

Brains vowed he would never doubt Sam again as he and Wheelie carried the Cube out in triumph.

TRTR

Bumblebee watched Sam as they stood by the space bridge. Dressed in his best clothes, black with touches of both red and purple, he carried the Cube. His mind seemed far away, a preoccupation that began when he brought the Cube from the cave. The human Prime looked up as they heard a hovercraft; moments later Blades transformed in midair and landed by them. "I'll carry you, Sam," he said. "Bumblebee, you just hang on, right?" He transformed back, and Sam climbed in. The hovercraft lifted so Bumblebee could hold on, as the space bridge powered up and the hole in the air appeared.

It seemed like forever, but in reality they appeared on Cybertron only a few minutes later. Bumblebee dropped to the ground, grateful to have anything solid under his peds, and transformed to his transport mode. Following Blades, he looked around and marveled at how far the rebuilding got from his last visit. While he knew where they were going, the sight of the Temple was still thrilling. It was the first building restored on Cybertron. Optimus Prime and Lord Megatron waited. First Aid stood beside them both as a witness and in case Sam needed anything. Blades landed on the platform by them and opened his canopy. Bumblebee transformed to climb the steps and lifted Sam out.

Sam held the Cube with one arm and steadied himself against Bumblebee with the other when his guardian set him down. He was breathing carefully, and when he tried to walk, he almost fell. His glythed eyes looked glassy. First Aid rushed up. "What is it, Sam?" he asked.

"Hurts," the human Prime managed. "Get me inside." Lord Megatron pushed both the scout and the medic aside and picked Sam up, striding into the Temple with the rest beside him. As soon as they entered the Temple, Sam heaved a huge sigh and said, "That's better. That's much better."

"You're the one carrying the All-Spark?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Sam breathed out. "It's hurting, the planet's hurting, I feel it. It's better in here." Optimus studied Sam as they moved, then hurried ahead, opening doors and showing the Lord Protector the fastest route. Sam relaxed more and more as they moved, until they entered the center of the Temple, where the Cube once resided. "Put me down," Sam said, and Megatron set him on the bottom step leading to the dais.

Sam climbed the steps slowly. At the top, he walked to the dais, and set the Cube down. It hovered, as it should, but only a few feet. Bumblebee's spark sank, and he heard Megatron groan. Where was the All-Spark's power?

But Optimus hushed them. "Watch," he advised.

Sam stepped back and raised his face and arms. Suddenly he glowed, blue light emanating from him and going into the Cube, which grew even as it rose. When the light stopped, the All-Spark rotated, back to its normal size. Lightning reached out and touched each Cybertronian in the room. Bumblebee felt every small scratch repair itself in that second.

Sam dropped his arms, turned, and climbed down the steps, smiling peacefully. Optimus held out his hands and Sam walked into them. They left the Cube behind them, rotating peacefully and glowing, going outside to cheers and celebration as the planet came to life. Sam started laughing when he saw Grimlock dance in his alt-form, while the other Dinobots cheered around him.

The All-Spark was home.


End file.
